Death Angel
by Atana
Summary: This is a Hellboy/Hela Half-Rotted crossover featuring characters in "Hellboy2: The Golden Army". What is the mysterious connection between Hellboy and his Angel of Death? Read and review!
1. Chapter 1

DEATH ANGEL

by Atana

CHAPTER 1: CRY FOR HELP

The sound began to bother Queen Hela Lokisdottir after the first day or two.

It was a persistent and painful continuous keening; a cry for help from someone or something from the domain of Death, and it hurt both the ears and the heart of the former Norse death goddess. On the third day she mentioned it to her consort Ullr, formerly Winter King of Asgard.

"Someone is in trouble and it is literally driving me mad," she told him, concern etched into her half-dead, half-alive face. "I know we have a trip planned to see the Bardarbunga volcanic eruption in Iceland, dearest one, but I feel compelled to locate and help whatever creature calls me."

Ullr, once god of the hunt of the Northern Lands, sighed. "By all means go, my dear. I have a yen to visit Breckenridge, Colorado to attend my own festival – and while it will pain me to miss you, the parades will cheer me. I will await you there."

The diminutive former death goddess kissed him – they had been together for the last thousand years, ever since the teachings of Jesus Christ scattered the worship of the pagan gods to the four winds – and pulled on her travel cloak, being careful to cover her withered left side.

"I will miss you too," she replied, and hobbled out the palatial front door of Elvidnir and out into the world of the present.

Niflheim, the Norse land of the dead, was sparsely occupied these days. Occasionally, a modern pagan would make his or her lonely way there, but there was very little business of the realm to occupy Hela. She and Ullr roamed the Nine Worlds, certainly, but her underground kingdom always called her back home.

Once outside the confines of the death land, Hela tilted her head back, closing her eyes and homing in on the mournful cry that drew her so relentlessly. Since time and space offered little obstacle for her, she let the steady keening draw her like a beacon.

She soon found herself standing on a desolate seacoast. She looked down and viewed hundreds of long basalt columns that had formed on the side of the headland, marching into the sea like tall stone soldiers. Desolate or not, the land also hosted two additional people. One was a pregnant young woman with one of those annoying modern haircuts that irritated Hela so.

_Why couldn't women leave their hair long as they did in her day? _She shook her head as if to clear it of cobwebs. _What a thing to think about when the woman probably needed her! _

She looked at the other person. He was a tall, massively-built humanoid, red in color, with circles on his head and a club like arm made from what looked like some kind of stone. He also had a tail, which made her catch her breath.

_Surely, this creature is not of Midgard_, she thought. _But is it he who needs my help?_

The queen of death shrugged off her hood and hobbled up to them as they stood examining the corpse of a crippled creature whose body had been supported by an overturned wooden cart. Hela's nose twitched; he had been dead for several days.

The large red man turned and looked at the goddess. "What the hell –?" he said.

Hela bowed. "I am pleased that you recognize me," she replied.

The woman next to him stared at her, then stared at him, and then laughed in recognition. "Red, it's Hela – Norse goddess of the dead. I studied the old myths in school. She appears half-dead and half-alive, and is the daughter of Loki."

Hela winced. "My father is no source of pride to me," she replied. "I have come all this way because someone is calling for help. Is it one of you, mayhap?"

Hellboy – for that was his name – shook his head. "It is neither of us. Have you shown up for this poor fellow here? He's the goblin who gave us entrance to the dead land of Bethmoora some time ago."

"No, it is not for a goblin that a queen comes reaping," Hela replied, a little miffed. Who was this red creature? She knew little of angels or demons, for neither existed in the Nine Worlds of Norse myth, and thus did not recognize who the large red man might be. She was entirely tuned into the children in the young woman's belly, however, and pointed at them.

"Boy and a girl," Hela said crisply. The woman beamed, and then clapped her hands.

"Thanks for ruining the surprise, lady," Hellboy grumbled. "Anyway, we don't need any help. We're seeking another audience with the Angel of Death who rules this dead city."

Hela winced suddenly, raising her hands to her ears. "The noise is maddening! Someone is in terrible trouble and is crying for me," she replied. "I wonder if it is your – angel?"

"I hope not," answered the young woman, who introduced herself as Elizabeth Sherman and the man as Hellboy. "She shared a disturbing prophesy with us and I need her to explain it in more detail. It was awful, really – something about my Red here bringing about the end of the world."

Hela shrugged. "I do not believe in prophecies. I was supposed to die at the last great battle of Ragnarok, yet here I stand. Prophecies may or may not come to pass, after all," she said. "They are not immutable." She looked around. "Where is this death land, then?"

The big red man bent over the goblin cart and began rummaging around. "I found it," he said triumphantly, standing back up holding a whistle. He put it to his lips and blew twice.

Suddenly, the ground began to rumble. Hela – apprehensive – immediately levitated. Within moments, giant glacial erratics buried halfway in the ground began to assemble themselves into a humanoid shape. "Is it some sort of frost giant?" the goddess thought to herself, observing that the man and woman with her were unafraid of the land movement. She then spoke to it in the language of Jotunheim, but received no reply. "Perhaps not," Hela ruminated. "Today is my day for meeting new kinds of mystical creatures."

Within moments, the three passed through the portal and into the dead city of Bethmoora.


	2. Chapter 2: Mistress of the Air

****CHAPTER 2: MISTRESS OF THE AIR****

**"******Do you hear her?" Hela cried. The bodies strewn about did not disturb her, accustomed as she was to viewing the dead. "What a terrible cry! She is in there!"****

****Pointing, she began a hobbling run toward a large building within the enclosure. Elizabeth and Red followed the Norse goddess into the domain of the Angel of Death, and all gasped at what they saw.****

****There had been an epic battle within this large vaulted room in the recent past. ****

****Nearly all of the large jars lay strewn about, smashed open so that someone – or something – could extract and consume the souls that had peacefully rested within. There were great gouts of dried blood scattered here and there. Whole sections of the enclosure had obviously been in flames, and the place reeked of smoke. Lying on the ground was a once-towering figure, whose oddly pointed fingers scratched convulsively at the covering of sand strewn over the floor.****

**"******Oh, it is her!" Hela cried to the others, hobbling over to the dying creature as fast as she could with her crippled left foot. Her hand went to her mouth as she surveyed the damage.****

****The being lying prostrate before her had been a mystical creature who once bore wings. One wing, however, was no longer on her shoulders. It lay charred on the floor about ten feet from her, its black feathers scorched by some terrible heat. The other wing was still partly attached and lay broken beneath her. Her face had been smashed with what Hela could only imagine was great violence.****

**"******Good God," Elizabeth whispered as Hellboy picked up the severed wing. "Look at what they did!"****

**"******They poked out the eyes for good measure, too," Red remarked with a shudder, throwing the appendage back onto the sandy floor. "Nice job. Wish I'd been here for the action. I would have done worse to them."****

****Elizabeth ran over to the suffering being. "Oh, look at her poor face," she said, her voice breaking. Hela examined the ivory-colored bone plate that covered the upper half of the creature's head. There was a large wedge-shaped chunk missing from it. Shivering, she lay her right hand upon the being's face. The creature twitched. The keening resonating in Hela's mind suddenly became a continuous shriek. ****

**"******Oh dear, oh dear," Hela whispered to her. "I am here to help you now. Don't be afraid. Can you speak to me?" She held the injured being's hand, which trembled in her own. ****

**"******Help – me," the creature hissed. "Attacked by demons – cannot move."****

**"******Of course you can't," Hela sighed. "Your back is broken." The goddess then smoothly expanded her own form so that her size matched that of the eight-foot being lying before her. The goddess rolled her over with some effort and placed her right hand over the stump of the wing that had been torn away. She sent a smooth slipstream of healing energy into it, and the wounded creature sighed in gratitude. ****

**"******You touch me; yet you do not die," the angel hissed.****

****Hela laughed. "I am already half-dead in the eyes of most people," she returned. "I think I am quite safe, being a portent of death not unlike yourself. Besides, in the condition you find yourself, I suspect that many of your powers have gone along with your wings."****

****Elizabeth, mindful of her belly, carefully knelt beside the Angel of Death. ****

**"******Now, come to me and be at peace," Hela said quietly, picking up the wounded ********angel******** and cradling her in her arms. "They sucked away at your life force, didn't they, and broke and battered you; yet you still live. Who are you, and from which realm do you hail? Perhaps I know it."****

****The being sighed and rested her head on the Norse goddess's shoulder. Too exhausted and depleted for the moment to speak, she answered Hela with her mind. After a few moments, Hela raised her head and spoke to her companions.****

**"******She is an angel of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and has been here on this world for thousands of years. She escorts the dead to their new destinies, among other things."****

**"******We know," Hellboy said dryly. ****

**"******I do not know her kind. Wait. She is telling me more. She is a warrior against the Beast and guardian over certain mortal lives. She reaps, but is not a reaper," Hela continued. "I command thousands of those, or did, at least, until my followers began to worship other gods. I know reapers well and she is not of their ilk. ********Here is more; the ancients knew her as the one who laid waste to their sinful cities and who punished those who persecuted innocents.********" ********Hela's eyes widened as she turned her head to look at Hellboy. "I do believe that she is mentioned in your religious literature, in fact. Your angel is quite famous, in addition to being your guardian."****

****Hellboy nodded. "She told us that she was my Death when we first met her, ********and that she has met me at each crossroad of my life. I guess that makes her my guardian, at least until the time she snatches me away and takes me wherever.********"****

**"****Don't worry******," Hela replied as she ran her hands over the shattered angel's broken form, ascertaining the extent of her injuries. "********She won't take you away until your time has come. What happened to you, anyway, to enable you to meet her?********"****

****Liz ********sighed, putting her hand on Hellboy's shoulder********. "Red had been stabbed by a mystical blade that dug its way closer to his heart every time we tried to remove it. The goblin you saw outside showed us the way. Red was dying, and the goblin asked the Angel of Death for intervention."****

**"******I don't remember much. I was unconscious," Hellboy continued, "but somehow she got that blade out of me. Gave it to the goblin as a souvenir. And then" – he gazed at Liz – "I found that I was going to be a father." ****

**"******My congratulations to you both," Hela returned. "Our friend here has a noble heart, and it is a shame to see her suffer so." ****

**"******Can't – see – "the angel whispered in her unearthly hiss.****

**"******Of course you can't," Hela responded with a glance at the severed and broken wings. "Eyes in her wings! Who would have thought such a thing was possible?" She smoothed the angel's shattered face. "There, there. Let me see what else I can do for you. You are in tremendous pain – do you wish to cross over?"****

****At this, Elizabeth gasped. "No! We need to speak with her!"****

****Hela gave her a look. "Whether she lives or dies is her choice and hers alone."****

****"Cannot leave – must protect - that one," the angel hissed again, pointing at the large red man. She then let loose an unearthly cry of pain and sorrow through her broken teeth. Both humans shuddered. Undeterred, Hela continued to minister to the injured ********angel********, using her right hand to push as much healing energy into her as her thin frame would allow. ****

****"It's all right, dear," she said. "What is your name?" ****

****"********Heaven gave me ********no name. I have been known as Destroyer by mortals here for ages upon ages. In the old language, ****_**Ha-Mashchit."**_**** She moaned because the edges of her broken jaw grated together when she spoke aloud. Hela immediately cupped the angel's chin with her right hand and continued filling her patient with her serene energy.****

**"******I hate to call you Destroyer. Those on Midgard tend to label all of us who minister to the dead with that sort of name. I have been called worse. I have always found it most unbecoming. If I can manage to keep you alive in this world, I will find a more suitable name for you; how is that? Hush now, dear. I will heal you the best I can. Unfortunately, I do not know angels and cannot recreate you. Perhaps I can restore you in the form of one of these creatures – one of these beings from Midgard." She gestured toward Red and Liz.****

****Hellboy frowned. "Midgard?"****

**"******The land of mortal people in Norse mythology," Liz told him. "Don't worry about what Midgard is. Demons must have followed us to this place and tried to destroy her, and we'd better figure out where they came from and who set them loose on her. I can't help but think this has to do with you, Red. What sort of demons would be strong enough to shatter an angel? And why would they do it?"****

****By this time, Hela had stood up and made several circuits around the area, gathering loose feathers, gouts of blood, and chunks of torn and burned flesh in her cloak. She then closely examined the angel's remaining broken wing. "There are three eyes left here that were not destroyed," she said with relief. "More than enough to work from. This will do nicely." She turned to the two humans. "Kindly wait outside; Jotun magic can get ugly."****

****Hellboy and Liz looked at one another, eyes wide and apprehensive. Then, they turned and left the cavern, stepping over the shattered soul-jars, hand-in-hand. In truth, both of them had no desire to witness Hela's reconstruction project and were more than happy to leave.****


	3. Chapter 3: Transformation

CHAPTER 3: TRANSFORMATION

**Red and Liz took advantage of their time outside the dead city to bury the goblin who had shown them the way. "We don't know your name, buddy," Hellboy said, "but we want you to know that we got rid of that damned Golden Army." After they had consigned him to the earth they sat and rested, hoping that Hela would somehow be able to save the angel – at least long enough to talk to her about the prophecy.**

**After a long while, Hela walked out of the abode of the Angel of Death. "She is human in form; at least she is to the best of my ability. It's been years. She is rather odd looking but I think I was able to preserve her life. I had to teach her how to walk. She doesn't know how to eat or sleep or function in the ways of Midgard. Will you two help her?"**

"**Of course. Does she remember her prophecy?" Liz asked.**

"**I think her memory has been harmed," the death goddess replied. "And frankly, if you two are to be a friend to her, instead of quizzing her on this and that you might remember that she has never been anything other than mistress of the air as well as guardian and reaper of human souls. She is very disoriented. I don't believe she has seen the light of day for years. It will take time for her to know the world." Hela turned toward the entrance to Bethmoora. "Well, come back in and let me introduce you."**

**Before any of them could move, Hela's new creation appeared outside the portal, clinging to its stone sides and tottering like a foal on long legs.**

"**Meet Lucine Mal'akha," the Norse death goddess announced. "I patched together a couple of Midgard languages and have most likely made a botch of it, but I wanted her to be known as the Messenger of Light. She deserves a beautiful name after the treatment she received."**

**The former Angel of Death's experiment in walking didn't last long. She slumped to the ground exhausted, hitting her knees rather hard. All ran to her.**

**Instead of eight feet tall, she was now the height of a small mortal woman and was dressed in the remnants of her soiled and tattered gown. Her black hair was not in a modern cut but hung long and straight around her narrow face in keeping with Hela's taste. She had startlingly high cheekbones and prominent teeth, now unbroken. Gone was the trilobite-like crest that had formed her upper face. She was nearly as bizarre in appearance as she had been before the demon attack, but the presence of large golden eyes softened her appearance and made her appear more human than angel.**

**Kneeling in the dust, Lucine now smiled as her hands – now bearing fingernails – wandered upward. "Dear Mother Hel, you have fixed my face," she said with a smile. Her voice was still quite inhuman, yet somehow pleasant. She gently patted her nose, then her lips and forehead with obvious pleasure. "And I can see again." She touched the pair of eyes that had once embellished her right wing. They were slightly askew; Hela's hand had been a bit unsteady and it was now too late to fix them. They were fringed with long black lashes, which Lucine now felt with great pleasure. "I don't hurt anymore, Mother Hel! Thank you!"**

**Liz and Hellboy looked at one another in wonder. They heard emotion in this odd creation's voice. It was apparent that for perhaps for the first time in her long existence the former Angel of Death was experiencing joy. She might not be so happy, however, after she got a look at herself in the mirror – if angels used them. Much of her exposed skin was covered in scarring of various kinds from the demon attack. Hela caught the two mortals in their scrutiny.**

"**I did the best I could with what I had," she said. "I hope you can find a place in the world for her that is more forgiving than you are."**

**XXXXXX**

**Queen Hela had said her goodbyes after making sure Hellboy and Liz would watch after her new creation, and departed to join Ullr in Breckenridge. "I do enjoy the parades," she told them. "Everyone is drunk, however – I don't believe it is mead that they drink. Sometimes they will have a woman with half her face painted blue to represent me. It makes us laugh to be among them when they think we are make-believe!"**

**Hellboy, Liz, and Lucine now sat in a coffee shop in the Belfast airport, awaiting their flight to New York. Lucine picked furtively at a pastry; she had not been sure what it was for until she had seen Red tuck into one. She hadn't yet learned to recognize hunger. After all, angels of the God of Abraham or otherwise had no need for food.**

"**We're going to take you to our former organization," Hellboy told her. "I'm not sure what else to do with you."**

**Liz sipped an orange juice. "The B.P.R.D. deals with a lot of supernatural creatures like you," she said. "You might be an asset to them. They've never had an angel on their payroll before. Red and I quit a while back, so we won't hang around for long."**

**Red snorted, and took an enormous bite of cheese danish. "I'm done with them. Morons."**

**Lucine began to tremble. "Will you not stay with me? Will you not watch over me? If I am on a road, do I turn right or left?" As she spoke, her voice grew in volume; it was so loud that other diners craned their necks to gaze at the odd-looking young woman with the strange and desperate voice.**

**Red and Liz both reached over to comfort her. "Easy there, girlie," Hellboy whispered. "No need to go on about it. Calm down now. We won't leave you."**

**Wanting nothing more than to fly away from this noisy place populated with the smell of cooking fug and too many mortals, the former Angel of Death prepared for flight before she realized that her wings were gone. She then tried with all her might to disappear, and failed. **

"**I do not understand feelings," Lucine grieved. "My heart was full of dust and sand, and now it is full of madness. Whatever I do, it is too much or too late or too loud. I am very confused. Perhaps it was my fate to die in battle; maybe it was a mistake to become a human. These things on my feet pain me." **

"**Shoes," Liz suggested.**

**Hellboy pushed the pastry dish so that it brushed her hand. "Eat this. You'll feel better. A little refined sugar and trans fat always brighten my day." **

**He turned to Liz. "I have an idea on who can help Lucine," he whispered to her.**

"**Really?"**

"**Who currently wears the crown for Most Socially Awkward King of the Entire World?"**

**Liz puzzled for a moment, and then smiled. "Abe, of course."**

**Chuckling, Red pulled out his cell phone.**


	4. Chapter 4: Big Apple

CHAPTER 4: BIG APPLE

**Abe Sapien did not enjoy being in public places when he did not have a specific mission to pursue. It made him feel foolish, and he did not like that feeling. Since he left the B.P.R.D. he saw no further need to cloak his appearance from the world; he, Liz, and Hellboy had appeared on the cover of People magazine, after all. Nevertheless, the stares of the travelers who poured past him disturbed his quiet soul.**

**Well, perhaps Abe did have a mission. Red had called him some hours ago and asked him to meet them at the airport. As he waited for the plane to arrive, Abe fretted over their conversation:**

"**Abe, I've got a new buddy for you."**

**(Nervously) "Is that right?"**

"**Remember the Angel of Death in Bethmoora?"**

**(Shuddering) "That terrible creature that scared hell out of us and announced that you were going to trash the world?"**

"**Well, ol' Platterface got herself into a bit of a scrape and got made into a human by some goddess. Hela or somebody. Anyhow, we're stuck with her and we could use some help."**

**There was silence. Abe did not cherish his recollections of the Angel of Death. She gave him the shivers. **

**Hellboy picked up on his reticence immediately. "Heyyyyyyy buddy. Help us out with her? Meet us at JFK around 7:30? Pat her on the head? Buy her a Frappucino? Please?"**

**(Silence)**

"**Hey, remember when I helped you out with your little – issue?"**

**(Silence)**

"**Am I addressing the living?"**

**(Suspiciously) "Is she dangerous? She gave me the creeps."**

"**She's fun-sized now because Hela had to put her back together from toad spit and waxed paper. The demons tore her up. So, hard to tell. For all I know, she's still all dreamy-eyed over smiting Egypt with the ten plagues. Right now, she's wingless and Hello took the eyes off her wings and put them on her face, although she put them in a bit wonky. She has feelings for the first time and it's boo-hoo this and boo-hoo that. All I know that she's driving me nuts."**

"**So, your solution is to have her drive ME nuts?"**

"**You got it. Thanks a bunch!"**

**XXXXXX**

**Abe shuffled nervously. Passengers were beginning to make their way from the plane to the main concourse. He saw the threesome and waved.**

"**Abe! Can't live without ya! How are you?" Hellboy boomed.**

"**Abe, good to see you," Liz said, hugging him around the neck.**

**Abe looked suspiciously over her shoulder at the newcomer. Liz had taken Lucine shopping in Northern Ireland and the short paisley dress with flutter sleeves was not a good look for her. Its soft fluffiness clashed with her sharp features. Abe was more than a little shocked, moreover, when Lucine slowly raised her hand and pointed at him, not unlike the way she had pointed at Red and Liz when they encountered her for the first time.**

"**Oh, no – his heart is broken. Broken!" she cried.**

**Hellboy shifted his weight and rolled his eyes heavenward. "Oh great. Another empath," he muttered. "She's had feelings for exactly fifteen minutes and now she's a psychotherapist." While he was busy wisecracking, however, Red had missed the fact that Abe had instantly moved toward her and was now talking to her in a rapid and intense whisper.**

"**_Yes, my heart is broken. I haven't hurt this badly in my life. There is no one who I can talk to. They laugh as if my life is a pitiful joke. They laugh at me - such a strange creature in love? How ridiculous of him to presume! Or they tell me I will find someone else. It does no good. I don't think this torment will ever leave me, and I am full of despair. How can you see all this?"_**

**Lucine stared back at him. "Know that Nuala is safe, even though she has passed out of this sphere."**

**Abe grabbed her thin shoulders. "You know her name? You know what happened to her?"**

"**Everyone in Bethmoora belonged to me. You did not see me in the throne room of the late prince and his sister, but I was there. I was also there when he murdered his own father and killed his retainers. I gathered up souls right and left that day, let me tell you. Crazy little maniac with his nasty little swords."**

"**Is she happy, where she is?"**

"**She is. It mostly has to do with the fact that her brother is someplace else. It is not a very good place. Not that it signifies to me; the last time we met, Nuada decided to insult me. He touched me with a weapon. It was a mistake on his part. The fortunate thing is that he is no longer in a position to bother her, so she is at peace for the first time. She enjoys her eternity with her departed parents – both of whom I also escorted to their reward."**

**Abe felt a huge wash of emotion choke his throat. He could not speak.**

**Lucine smiled at him. "Although I can no longer communicate with the dead, I believe that she watches over you, and wishes you well, and thanks you for your final message."**

"**You know about that too?"**

"**I saw you deliver it. I have been on this realm long enough to know that love is a wonderful thing, although I myself have never experienced it." **

**Abe bent his head and nodded.**

**Lucine looked wistfully at the blue man. "Knowing that, perhaps you can begin to say your final farewells to her."**

**Before Abe could react, Hellboy slapped him on the back. "Let's grab the luggage," he crowed. **

**Lucine looked up at him with the fires of Gehenna burning in her crooked golden eyes. **"**You are an idiot," she said. ****She then turned and followed Liz to the baggage claim, the heels of her H&amp;M shooties clacking angrily against the floor tiles.**

**Hellboy sighed. "Sheesh, what did I say? Abe, will you let the old man know we're coming?" He avoided contact with Dr. Thomas Manning ever since he quit the Bureau.**

"**No problem," Abe said, taking out his cellphone and working his digital magic.**

**XXXXXX**

**It was a long taxi ride back to Trenton. Lucine had no place to live and no means to support herself, so B.P.R.D. headquarters was their destination for her. Of course, her three compatriots had terminated their employment, so they would not stay long tonight.**

"**Manning is beside himself with joy at the prospect of having an angel of death at the Bureau."**

"**He might not be too happy if she mistakes him for Pharaoh's army and smites the hell out of him."**

"**That is not funny," Lucine snapped. "I only carry out the will of Heaven."**

"**Hey," Red returned, looking at her. She was engrossed in examining the glitter manicure she had gotten in Belfast. "Don't do that stuff you did at the airport again. It's creepy, man."**

"**I cannot help it. It is my nature. Now leave me alone about it, Anung un Rama, before I smite _you_."**

**Abe saw the downward slide of their interaction and interjected himself. "Manning got Johann's footage from Bethmoora and is sitting in front of his computer replaying it. I told him that she doesn't look quite like that any more. He said he has a political meeting tonight but would check in with her first thing in the morning."**

**Liz then spoke, and about another topic altogether. "Lucine, will you tell us more about that prophecy? I mean – not now, of course, but soon?"**

**The former death angel shook her head. "I remember very little of it. All I recall is that it involves one of those flying tubes we just came out of."**

"**An airplane," Hellboy declared. "Well, as of this minute Liz, the kids, and I will stay the hell away from them. And then I won't turn rogue and go all apocalyptic. Problem solved!" He beamed and gave Liz a rib-cracking hug.**

**Abe shifted in his seat. "How did an angel of Elohim end up in Northern Ireland, anyway?"**

**Lucine shrugged. "I think they forgot about me," she replied. "The twelve tribes were long dispersed, and they had to put me somewhere. For a long time, I languished in the land of Macedonia. Then I chased an itinerant peddler in Anatolia for a long while; he professed to sell trinkets but instead stole souls. I did not kill him but I certainly ran him off."**

"**I think he ended up in New England," Abe muttered.**

"**I lived in the land of Rus during the Black Plague. I was quite busy indeed. I wandered Europe and Asia for a long time. Later, there was some trouble in Bethmoora, the world beneath the green island we just left. Goblins were putting together an army of figures that would destroy humankind – abominations!"**

"**I hated those damned things," Hellboy grumbled. "They kept recreating themselves, undoing all my work."**

**Lucine nodded. "I told the goblins and elves again and again that they were inflicting a great evil on the world, but they did not listen to me. As it happened, their very existence cursed the land and everyone within it. I was very busy carrying away the souls of the dead, and there were plenty because the army was sucking the life force from everyone in the surrounding area. The goblins hadn't anticipated that, and had no idea how to stop it."**

"**How horrible!" Liz groaned. "The mechanisms were killing the inhabitants? Couldn't you as an Angel of the Lord stop them?"**

"**Oh, I tried, my child," Lucine replied sadly. "I transported them first into what mortals call the Marianas Trench, the deepest part of the ocean, but they swam their way back up and marched back to Bethmoora, slaughtering all of the mystical creatures along the way who tried to stop them. I also cast them into the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull ****but all it did was cause it to erupt and spew ash all over Europe."**

**Abe spoke. "I remember that. Air traffic was canceled for a week."**

"**Although molten by the magma, members of the Army reconstituted themselves and marched back out. Of course, you humans could only see the eruption but those things returned right to their home below the green island. I was consumed with despair."**

"**If you were tossing his toys away, why did the goblin in the cart call you his friend?"**

"**Because I was. So long as his creations remained in the land of Bethmoora, more and more souls departed until everyone was gone, save him and me. He was loyal to me until the very end of his life because I knew the truth and tried to stop them."**

**Abe looked at Lucine the Messenger, and could feel the sadness radiating from her slight form. **

"**Not long after I was visited by Elizabeth Sherman and Anung Un Rama, I was swarmed by an army of demons. They no doubt knew I was alone, and was quite weakened and worn out by the passage of years and the intense loneliness from which I suffered. If I had been a thousand years younger, they would have been no problem for me. Unfortunately, they killed my goblin friend, who was trying to block their entrance into my domain. They snatched away his poor soul before I could carry it away to safety." **

"**Lucine, what were all those jars in your temple for?" asked Liz.**

"**They were the dwellings of the souls who languished alone," Lucine replied. "I have always taken believers to the places their religion dictated once they died. Those who had no beliefs or had nowhere to go when they passed over remained with me if they chose. Bethmoora once had an enormous populace, and many of my home guests were people I knew. They were safe and content in my domain, and they knew they could trust me to watch over them."**

"**I observed that they gave off their own illumination," Abe added.**

"**Yes, they did," she replied. "Their glow made my isolation less bearable. And to have them desecrated and destroyed – well, I cannot bear to speak of it now. I was mother and guardian to them all, and I failed in my duty." She pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes. "I am beside myself with exhaustion!"**

"**That's because you haven't slept yet. You need to learn how to do that. Just take a breath," Hellboy said. "We have plenty of time to discuss what happened later." Red grimaced. "Whoever did the dirty to you and yours needs to be punished. Maybe the boss will put somebody on it, who knows? Ah, here we are at Headquarters. Abe, pay the nice man for me."**

**Lucine made no comment. She had fallen asleep for the first time in her very long life.**


	5. Chapter 5: BPRD

**CHAPTER 5: THE BUREAU FOR PARANORMAL RESEARCH AND DEFENSE**

**The following morning found the scientists of the B.P.R.D. in a flurry of professional excitement at the prospect of scrutinizing the only Old Testament angel in captivity. **

**Well – not exactly in captivity. Lucine the Messenger had been carried into the building and laid to rest for the night on a small cot. She had awakened, been given a glass of Carnation Instant Breakfast (she had fled the cafeteria earlier, the crowds, stares and noise being too much for her), taken her first shower, and had dressed herself in a black turtleneck and a pair of jeans. At this stage in the morning's festivities she was quite annoyed with the poking and prodding she had been receiving for the last hour and a half by members of the medical unit.**

"**What next?" Lucine hissed, slapping at a technician who was preparing to wheel her toward a CT scan. "Vex me further and I'll see you to Hell!"**

"**Fred, did you get that?" another technician typing on a laptop inquired eagerly to an agent nearby who was holding a camera. They were not only filming her every move but making written and aural recordings of her every word. Dr. Thomas Manning, FBI liaison to the B.P.R.D., was thorough to a fault.**

"**I am going back to Bethmoora," Lucine announced, jumping up and beginning to head down the corridor. She did not get far because she was summarily blocked by Dr. Johann Krauss, who snapped the most rakish bow that he could manage in a containment suit.**

"**_Wie gehts, fraulein_."**

**Lucine looked at him suspiciously, and then pointed. "Spirit in a cage," she announced.**

"**We have examined you, a mashup of a heavenly being and a human, and it is a mystery to this organization as to how you can continue to breathe and function. We would like our surgeons to look at you next, to see if we can help you with those burn scars. And you can't go back to Bethmoora. We have agents studying it at this very moment. We are particularly interested in the soul-jars - "**

"**Were you thinking of living in one yourself?" Lucine hissed once more, having none of it. "I would be glad to accomodate you, then seal it shut for you."**

"**Why so hostile, _Schatzchen_? If we are going to help you in your new capacity as a human being, we need to understand you. Right now, I am unsure of what you can do for us besides being a colossal pain in the _popo_. We really don't need someone to translate our database into ancient Hebrew."**

"**Why should I do anything for you? I didn't ask to come here. And I am leaving now, so farewell to you all." She started down the hall once again, her unsteady gait full of weaves, stumbles, and missteps not only due to her ineptness at walking but also due to her modish footwear. **

**Liz had picked the boots out for her in Belfast based on their fashionability rather than their functionality, which had proved to be a mistake. Unfortunately for Lucine, they were also cheap. It was at that exact moment when Lucine's right heel snapped, sending her careening squarely into the chest of Dr. Tom Manning. He caught her under her arms just before she fell flat on her face. **

"**Well now, who is this?" he said in surprise.**

"**Bethmooran Angel of Death," Johann returned. **

"**What?" Tom shrieked, yanking his hands away from her. Lucine nearly staggered and fell. "Oh, I'm sorry!" He propped her up again instantly. "I didn't mean to – I mean – um, why in the hell didn't anyone tell me that this - little – girl – was the death angel! My God! I'm sorry for nearly knocking you down! My apologies!" He was beside himself, which was unlike his usual frosty demeanor. The agents surrounding them suppressed their snickers. Manning wasn't exactly a lady-killer and everyone knew it.**

"**Fraulein Lucine here was just leaving," Johann said, and he would have winked if he could. In reality, Fraulein Lucine was going nowhere and she would be the last in the room to figure it out. Krauss looked over at her and was astounded to see her staring at a spot immediately above Manning's bald pate, her mouth open.**

** "Such a lovely soul," she whispered. "You have such a wealth of love within it. But there is no one for you to share it with. Such a pity." She turned to face Krauss. "Now, I am going out of this place. Do not stop me, spirit in a bowl."**

**Tom stood silent, dumbstruck. **

**Johann crossed his arms. "Alas, Lucine, you cannot. You are a guest of the United States government, and you leave when we say you can leave."**

**Lucine scowled, and if she could have grown to her former full height and snapped her black wings in their faces, she would have. "I do not like this man in a false body," she declared. "I do not like the boxes for feet. Water is coming out of my eyes," she added, dismally patting her own face. "Why is water coming out of my eyes?"**

"**Because you're what humans call upset," Johann replied with a sigh. "You have lost everything, including your old self. Everyone you knew in Bethmoora is dead, and I apologize for treating you so frivolously."**

"**I do not like feelings," Lucine said, looking up at Tom with her eyes streaming. "They are most inconvenient. I must go back to Bethmoora. It is quiet and dark. I do not want to see everyone's souls and hear all these noises and see all these lights. It will drive me mad." She looked down the corridor and spied a utility closet which had been carelessly left open. Without another word she strode over to it, entered it, and closed the door behind her with a bang. **

**Krauss and Manning stared at one another, the agents around them performing their recording duties with great diligence. **

**"Well, there's a thing," Johann said.**

**Manning turned to the agents. "Take a fifteen minute break. I'm going to try to figure out what just happened here." He went over to the closet and knocked, receiving a particularly nasty hiss from Lucine.**

"**Miss Lucine, I am the one with the soul you liked," Tom said. "My name is Tom Manning, and I run this place. May I enter and speak with you?"**

**She said that he could, and he opened the door. The neck of every employee on the floor craned to see inside. **

**The death angel's crooked golden eyes gleamed when the overhead lights struck them, looking for all the world like some feral cat's.**

**XXXXX**

**Of course, news of this event raced around the hidden nerve center of the B.P.R.D. like lightning, only faster. The old man was inside a closet with the angel of death! There were wagers made on whether he would emerge alive, or whether she would blast him directly to Hell just for the fun of it. The agents and staff were beside themselves with excitement and anticipation.**

**They would have been far more surprised at what actually transpired. **

**Lucine had poured out her heart to him, telling him how she had made herself the guardian and death of Anung un Rama in spite of the opposition of her brother and sister angels; how she had been torn to pieces and burned by a horde of demons who had followed Liz and Hellboy to her temple; how her current form confused her. She told him that looking at her terrible scars frightened her. She cried a good deal out of a combination of shame, exhaustion, and blind terror - all human emotions to which she was entirely unaccustomed.**

**For his part, Tom Manning had listened with rapt attention and showed her more humility and compassion than anyone who knew him considered him capable. He understood that being in the closet was a lot like being in her cave in Bethmoora and did not even suggest that they leave. He taught her how to blow her nose with a handkerchief (his), which was rather difficult in the dark. For quite a while after, neither spoke but enjoyed the welcome presence of the other - an experience to which neither one of them was truly acquainted.**

**XXXXXX**

**They both emerged some two hours later, flecked by dust-kitties from the closet floor and spelling faintly of industrial floor cleaner, to a sizeable crowd of astonished agents and support staff. **

**Dr. Thomas Manning dusted himself off. **"**_What the hell are you looking at?" _he shouted. **

**Like magic, the mass hypnosis experienced by his employees broke, and everyone raced back to their respective assignments.**

"**That was very funny," Lucine said, clinging to his dusty arm. "Do not leave me, please."**

**"I wouldn't dream of it," he returned quietly. "Dr. Krauss, I believe we have a physical therapist on the staff. Lucine could use some help with her walking. She also can't climb stairs yet." He looked down the hall and spotted a straggler. "Agent Burgoyne," he called. "See to it at once, please."**


	6. Chapter 6: An Important New Asset

**CHAPTER 6: An Important New Asset**

**The life of the former death angel changed in many ways over the following months.**

**Biblical scholars from the greater New York area consulted with her daily as she recounted her experiences in the Holy Land four thousand years ago. Doubters quickly became believers when she pointed out mistranslations of holy scripture, corrected maps, and spoke in archaic languages that no human living today could possibly know. This academic exercise was kept secret, the sessions held deep in the underground chambers of Headquarters, because the world was ready for many bizarre things but not for the existence of an angel who had watched over the Prophets of Old. **

**Lucine's ability to sense the presence of evil – a must-have for any angel – had slowly returned and this led to numerous successful B.P.R.D. missions. Her years in Bethmoora also gave her a wide lexicon of knowledge about mystical and supernatural creatures, many of whom the Bureau had never heard of.**

**She had also established a firm friendship with Liz, predicting the exact moment when her twins would begin their journey to join the world ("This will help you avoid crosstown traffic," Lucine had told her gravely). Once, when both women were engaged in lighthearted patter about this and that, Liz had allowed her hand to flame up so that she could relight a candle which had guttered out. She had not expected Lucine's extreme reaction and was sorry when she remembered that the former death angel had been set ablaze by her attackers. She held her sobbing friend until her terror diminished.**

**Lucine and Abe were kindred souls, and Abe's gentle heart was soothed by the presence of someone who truly understood him. Even Johann came to be charmed by the former angel, who told him in detail about his Teutonic ancestors and taught him about a few transdimensional portals that spirits could visit for their amusement.**

**Anung Un Rama was Lucine's most important job, of course. She oversaw everything in which he was involved, pointing out the dangers inherent in them. "I am your death but I am also your protector until that time," she informed him, especially when she "cramped his style", as Hellboy so colorfully put it. **

"**Okay, okay, tough stuff, when exactly am I going to die?" he had barked at her at lunch one Saturday. Liz and Red were still out of work so Lucine had planned on picking up the tab for the three of them.**

"**You scare me not," she returned sharply, "and the date of your demise has unfortunately been lost to me. It probably happened when the devils cracked my head on the floor."**

"**Yeah, and maybe they should have finished the job so I wouldn't have to listen to you bellyaching about every frigging little thing," Hellboy snapped.**

**He wasn't expecting to be hit in the head by a large pepper shaker.**

"**Ouch! That hurt! Are you kidding me?" He was outraged that his so-called protector would clock him a good one for his impertinence.**

**Lucine hissed at him, baring all those teeth. "Vex me at your peril, Anung un Rama."**

**He looked at her for a long stretch of seconds rehearsing various replies in his head, but then thought better of it. As he later told Liz, "Eight feet tall or not, she still scares the living hell out of me."**

"**Good," Liz responded only half-jokingly.**

**Despite the fireworks between them, Lucine was greatly troubled that she also could not recall the details of the Hellboy prophecy. She knew no more than what she had told Liz and Red at Bethmoora. It flickered around the outer edges of her memory, but she was unable to grasp it, but resolved to keep trying to remember the full details.**

**Of course, her relationship with Dr. Manning was the talk of the Bureau. They seemed unable to be without one another for longer than a few hours at a time. Since the Bureau didn't officially exist, there were no rules that forbade it. Frankly, no one at the B.P.R.D. seemed to mind. Many of them had never seen Dr. Manning smile before, and these days he smiled all the time. After a while, she moved into Tom's condo and left her little cot at the Bureau behind her forever. It was a scandal for about fifteen minutes, and then people calmed down and became obsessed over their own lives once again.**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Shortly after Lucine had joined the BPRD, Dr. Manning had arranged for the two of them, along with a vast number of agents and an impressive array of equipment, to occupy a fifty-mile "safe zone" in the Mojave Desert. Tom had even compelled the brass at Edwards Air Force Base to do no flyovers during the day devoted to the experiment to help preserve the scene and ensure secrecy. Ordinarily, the military would have delighted in refusing the demands of a mere FBI bureau chief, but rumors were afoot that this same FBI bureau chief had somehow come into possession of a creature who could vaporize whatever and whomever she pleased; they had prudently decided to comply. **

**The purpose of this excursion was to allow Lucine to demonstrate the extent of her powers, and for the BPRD to record and analyze the same. The agents had been strategically placed throughout the safe zone and BPRD choppers did a quick sweep of the area. Lucine stood by herself on a mesa, nervously fingering her headset and drumming her other hand against her thigh. Tom had explained everything to her in detail and she was anxious to do well. The desert contained sulfur deposits and other parts of the region emitted toxic gases; as she had in Sodom, she planned to use these natural resources to her advantage. She kicked off her shoes and dug her toes into the dust, gauging her position lest she lose her balance and fall. Her last pair of wings had been burned off by demons and she was careful.**

**"Go ahead, Lucine," Tom had told her from the command center ten miles north of her position. "Do it!"**

**Lucine loved Tom and had been happy to please him. **

**Smiling, she had done so.**

**Manning and the rest of the agents had been utterly horrified when the desert hardpan within a thirty-mile radius had burst into flames. Oddly, a small clear space encircled each agent, protecting him or her from the firestorm and ensuring that he or she had sufficient oxygen to breathe. If the agents had cared to look, they would have seen that similar though tinier life-bubbles surrounded each ant; each gila monster; each horned toad; each coyote. The angel may have been a **_**mal'ach ha mavet**_** but she had a healthy respect for the preservation of life.**

**Lucine the Messenger held out her arms shoulder-height, eyes rolled back in her head. She began to sway dreamily, like a little girl who dances back and forth to a favorite song. Her toes traced arcs in the dirt. Smiling, she now remembered how she had done this little dance in mid-air with her great black all-seeing wings beating against the hot desert air right after she had wiped out the city of Zeboiim over four thousand years ago. **

**There was pride, not shame, in all of her actions this day. She was merely doing what she had been created to do, and she was doing it well. She hoped that Tom would approve of her efforts and sighed at the thought of him. The headset fell from her ear to the desert floor, puffing out dirt in a plume around her dirty feet. She couldn't hear Tom's frantic cries for her to stop. **

**She raised her bony little arms and danced in small circles. She gave a barely perceptible nod heavenward, and BPRD agents raced for cover when hundreds of meteors came screaming at them from the clear blue sky. They punched deep craters in the desert floor; again, no one had been struck by them, but their concussive thuds had effectively cleared the airspace of BPRD helicopters, ensuring that Tom would be unable to reach her.**

**Lucine continued to sway and dance her little dance of destruction for a good two or three minutes before the shriek of human voices got through to her. They were not appreciating her efforts, then. Had they ever encountered a being who could do better?**

**With a shrug, the angel raised her arms and the hail of rocks had stopped in mid-air and drifted gently to the desert pavement. A ring of dark and moisture-laden cumulonimbus clouds suddenly moved into the area to release a deluge of torrential rain, extinguishing the fires. **

**Drenched to the bone, the assembled agents had dropped their equipment and had run like crazy to escape the flash floods that boiled down the hillsides, observing with astonishment that Lucine remained perfectly dry as she sat cross-legged on the mesa. Her little hands still fluttered through the air as her ancient songs of death and destruction continued to race through her brain.**

**It took Dr. Manning twenty minutes to get to her. He had been frantic, realizing what a dangerous mistake it had been to allow Lucine to demonstrate her powers. The trembling FBI liaison – covered with the desert dirt and sweating in the 110 degree heat of the day – had grabbed Lucine and held her tight.**

**"Easy, my baby," he had whispered. "Easy, now." Lucine had smiled, knowing that she had pleased him. She relaxed into his embrace, still barely able to understand why anyone would want to hold one of Heaven's darkest destroying angels in his arms.**

**She would only learn later of the cost in equipment and transportation her little demonstration had caused. It had taken her quite a long time to understand that folks at the BPRD were not only upset about the destruction, but about potential enemies learning of her existence and kidnapping her.**

**They needn't have fretted. Lucine would have defended herself against such interlopers with a blast of hydrogen fluoride gas pulled from deep within the Earth. They would have died from pulmonary edema before their bodies hit the ground.**

**After all, no one was going to take her away from her Tom.**

**XXXXXXXXX**

**Manning's **_**mojo**_** had skyrocketed as a consequence of the incident and his angel companion became known among Bureau agents as Lucine the Destroyer - except when the Old Man was around.**

**Several months after the Mojave Test, a BPRD employee named Smith had repeated this nickname to his fellow field agent only to be struck dumb with terror when he saw Lucine round a nearby corner. **

**His heart had pounded in fear as she approached him in her clumsy way.**

**"Do not fear," she had told him. "It is what they called me in Jericho."**

**XXXXXXX**

**Of course, the whole incident had been covered up when desert prospectors and miscellaneous scavengers had come across the vast field of craters and the miles and miles of scorched earth. The BPRD had leaked the improbable story that aliens had once again visited the American southwest and had left quite a mess. Tom Manning – the designated agent of this deception – had been quite amused that the ****National Enquirer**** actually ran the alien story. **

**"They should pay me a royalty for the increase in sales," he had boasted.**

**The only downside had been that Lucine's rain of stones had later ended up as a feature story on the television show "NASA's Unexplained Files". With all his professional acumen, Tom had instructed the press people at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to respond that the pockmarks in the desert floor had been the result of an expected and quite harmless fall of space junk that had already been tidied up by the good folks at the JPL. **

_**No strain! No pain! No problem! Nothing to see here, people!**_

**Tom was good at what he did, but it had come as no surprise after the desert **_**kerfuffle**_** that Johann Krauss sat down with Dr. Manning for a stern talking-to. **

**"This country has not unleashed anything as lethal as Lucine Mal'akha upon the American desert since the nuclear tests of the nineteen fifties," Krauss had declared. "I have grave doubts about your ability to contain her." **

**"Don't be ridiculous, Johann," Tom had responded. "I don't have the power to contain her. Lucine does what Lucine does, and for the last four hundred years she's done little more than protect Agent Hellboy at the cost of her own hide. She does not answer to humankind, nor does she follow the commands of humankind."**

**Noting Johann's utter lack of response, Tom tried another tack. "She's done nothing but good for the Bureau! Johann, you know this! Every Talmudic scholar and Biblical historian owes her a tremendous debt of gratitude. She's already uncovered over thirty ancient trade routes under the Israeli desert and located seven ancient cities in Iraq; the archaeologists tell us that it will take them three hundred years to properly excavate them! I honestly don't see a downside here. We are honored to have an angel of the Lord in our midst, but all you see is a few busted-up jeeps and generators and a couple of choppers that were due for the scrapyard in the first place!"**

**If Krauss had a face, he would have scowled. "Dr. Manning. You fail to realize that this creature whom you - love - is profoundly dangerous. You think you know her mind, but you do not know her mind. If we were really serious about protecting mankind from her, we would ship her out to Carlsbad or Rocky Flats and let the people at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant place her in an underground containment chamber along with the nuclear waste for the rest of her natural life."**

**Replying that his beloved was not composed of beta particles and gamma rays, Dr. Manning had told Krauss to go to hell and had given him directions. He hadn't cracked open Johann's dome head with his fist, but it had been a near thing.**

**XXXXXXXXX**

**As the months passed within the confines of the BPRD and environs, Tom Manning and Lucine the Destroyer frequently went to work together from their common home. There were a few mornings, however, where he rose to greet the day before she did. It was on one of those mornings that Lucine found her dreams of happiness threatened, an event that shook her to her very core.**

**She woke up with a feeling of doom and a dreadful pain in her shoulders. She frowned for a second, not recalling any injuries. **

**The pain suddenly caused her to gasp, and Lucine pushed herself up to a sitting position with a jolt that felt as if her back was once again on fire. She took several minutes to extricate herself from the bed and looked back around to see blood on the sheets. Now with dread thumping in her heart, she grabbed a vanity mirror from the nightstand and hobbled into the bathroom.**

**She slipped the straps of her nightgown off her shoulders and turned with her back to the large mirror above the sink. She then looked into the hand mirror with trepidation.**

**_No._**

**_How could such a thing be possible?_**

**She saw two gashes running up and down either side of her spine, oozing blood. What made her burst into hysterical tears was the spray of black feathers that protruded from each of them.**

**She dropped the mirror and shrieked. To find happiness at last, only to turn back into an inhuman creature who would terrify those who encountered her – it was too much for her. Incapable of picking up the telephone to call Tom, she slipped into a pair of flats and tossed one of his coats over her thin shoulders.**

**Lucine took a taxi to the Bureau where Tom came on the run, horrified by the sight of her blood soaking through the back of his trenchcoat. Medical teams immediately pushed her onto a gurney and she spent several hours being scrutinized once again. They confirmed her fears, but found no evidence that her skull was beginning to morph into its former shape.**

"**It seems that my angel is sprouting wings," Tom whispered, holding her gently as he was mindful of the painful gashes in her back, which were growing larger as the wings continued pushing their way through. To say that Lucine was drugged was an understatement, but the medications did nothing to calm her fears.**

**She sobbed in his arms. "You will run away from me in terror, as many humans have ever since I was created!" **

"**Never," he soothed. **

"**I must have done something terrible for the Lord to punish me so!" **

"**You've done no such thing." Tom replied calmly.**

"**It is the damndest thing I have ever seen," Johann fretted, approaching them both. "There is no wing structure hidden within her back. The feathers and the flesh that holds them are literally knitting themselves together out of nothing from inside her."**

"**Well, that's cheery news, Johann," Manning returned sharply. "Sure to pick her spirits right up, in fact. Why don't you take your ectoplasmic schwanzstucker outside and play in the traffic?"**

**After Johann beat a hasty retreat, Tom finally convinced Lucine to allow the drugs to take effect. She lay on her side and closed her eyes. **

**She slept so soundly that she did not hear the excited news that Elizabeth Sherman had been admitted to the hospital to deliver her twins.**

**XXXXX **

**_It was Hell, the absence of the presence of God, the abyss, the place of eternal torment, or any number of unsavory descriptions, and – no matter the name – it was now the location where a group of demons were having a predictably unpleasant conversation._**

**_Malaphar reached over to one of his underlings and tore him in half. "Fool! Bungler! I set you and your worthless minions against that ancient broken-down angel and the worst you did was poke out her eyes and scorch her wings?"_**

"**_A million humble apologies, Master," spoke the disembodied upper half._**

"**_That creature is the protector of Anung un Rama and will ultimately try to bear his soul to - " his ugly face puckered with disgust - "Heaven. She also revealed the prophecy to him, and now he seeks to ensure that it will never come to fruition." The demon stood now, belching flames. "I sent you to peel her flesh from her bones and burn the whole mess into ash! You failed miserably!"_**

**_The underling reassembled itself (it was Hell, after all, no act of mayhem was worth doing unless it could be done a multitude of times). "She was stronger than we thought. But Master, think of all the souls I brought you! Tasty, tasty souls! I - "_**

**_Malaphar waved his hands in disgust. "Fool! People who choose to remain with angels in the afterlife make poor provisions for the likes of us. Their souls were a good deal too pure and I was forced to kick them up and out. You came back with nothing except a handful of burnt eyeballs and not enough feathers to stuff a sofa pillow! Useless! You fools know the stakes we are dealing with, don't you?"_**

**_Another underling, who was more adept at flattery than his companion, answered. "Yes, Master, we certainly do. We seek to reclaim Anung un Rama as our champion!"_**

**_Malaphar, "Quite correct, my little voids, and how will we do this?"_**

**_Another syncophant piped up. "By destroying his woman and children. By making the woman witness the deaths of her children while suffering unspeakable physical and mental pain herself, knowing all the while that Anung un Rama will return to his evil roots as a result."_**

"**_Delicious! Precious!" all cried aloud._**

"**_Quite right. Have any of you pustules have ever toyed with a human playing with a Ouija board?"_**

**_All raised their scaly hands._**

"**_And what is the rule?"_**

**_A cackling demon with more heads than sense piped up. "When they ask to speak to their Aunt Mattie, represent yourself as Aunt Mattie. The more they talk to you, the more empowered you become – until they cannot rid themselves of the demon they unwittingly called up."_**

"**_Correct again. Now, you piles of waste, I have some interesting news," Malaphar cackled. "It seems that a group of what humans call "terrorists" have been praying to God for victory over their enemies in the form of death and mayhem."_**

"**_Naughty, naughty!" another underling cried. "Humans should never ask – what's His name – to perform unholy actions for them."_**

"**_But when they do - " Malaphar continued._**

"**_They will believe that God is answering them when it is really - "_**

"**_Us," all the demons cried together._**

"**_Just like the Ouija board!"_**

**_All cackled for quite a while, and why not? Laughter is scarce in the fiery pit._**

"**_A group has asked for our help to once again strike New York City. The humans have rebuilt it, and they believe it is just _****begging**_** for another day of destruction. And this is what you need to do - "**_

**_The hellish host closed around Malaphar and listened closely._**

**_XXXXXXX_**

"**Hello, sleepyhead," Hela whispered, cooling the sleeping Lucine's brow with the touch of her icy hand.**

"**Why?" the former angel replied. "Why are my wings coming back? I would be glad to do any penance!"**

"**There is no penance for you to do, so far as I can see," the Norse goddess replied. "You have always been a good and loyal servant. Now, you know that I do not believe in prophecies and I also do not believe in fate. But I am thinking that perhaps your God is giving your wings back to you for a reason."**

"**Wings? Why would I need wings? Tom and I do not need wings!," Lucine replied. "For the first time I am experiencing love. Love – can you imagine such a thing for such a creature as me?"**

"**I can, my dear," Hela said, streaming some healing energy into Lucine's back. "My father once wanted to make me happy, and reanimated a dead man so that I could have a companion in my kingdom. It went very well for a very long time until Lord Death made an appearance and put an end to it all. And of course I have Ullr now, but he is a death deity himself and one of us. He has brought thousands of people who died in the frozen north woods back to my kingdom. This man of yours - "**

" **\- is one who has a wealth of love in his heart," Lucine continued, "and he has chosen to share it with me, a creature that months ago would have sent him screaming into the night. I don't want to lose him!"**

"**And do you think that the wings will cause him to flee?" Hela inquired.**

**Lucine was silent for quite a while. "No. I don't think so." She gave a small smile. "But now I doubt if I can even fit into his shower stall with them." **

**Hela smiled as well. "I have the feeling that he will be entirely willing to redo his entire domain to accomodate you. Worry not." The death goddess leaned over and kissed her on her forehead. "Try to enjoy whatever good things fate has given to you. If you and I – harbingers of death who fill human hearts with instinctive fear and loathing – can find someone to love us, it is not so bad. Also remember that you yourself possess love and loyalty. I have been watching! People are drawn to you. They sense the goodness in you as clearly as I can."**

**Lucine gazed into her half-dead, half-alive face. "Thank you for being my friend."**

"**You are more like a daughter to me. Now wake up; you have been asleep for twelve hours now, and your friend has given birth to two lovely children. No tails! No horns! They are pink, but aren't many newborns?"**


	7. Chapter 7: Babies and the Bayonne Bridge

**CHAPTER 7: BABIES AND THE BAYONNE BRIDGE**

**The corridor outside Elizabeth Sherman's hospital room was swamped with organization people waiting to welcome the newcomers. Members of the crowd stepped aside when Lucine and Tom approached.**

**"It's like Moses parting the Red Sea," Lucine muttered.**

**"And you were there, of course," Tom quipped.**

**"As a matter of fact, I was," Lucine replied.**

**He looked at her with his eyes wide; he had meant it as a joke. Having a relationship with an entity thousands of years old was a source of continuous delight and amazement to him.**

**Lucine moved carefully, conscious of her new wings. She was not happy about them; her back and shoulders were still sore to the touch and she was sorry about having to give Liz her brand new black leather jacket. "Perhaps they're letting us go in first because they respect your position of authority."**

**Tom laughed. "Me? Respect from that enormous red lug nut in there?" He thumbed toward the entrance to the private hospital room. "You must be dreaming. I expect they're standing aside because of your eight-foot wingspan." He nodded to the people to his right and left.**

**Lucine resisted the urge to snap her wings outward just because it would have felt good. "They should respect such a pure soul," she replied. "There are so few of you."**

**"Hey! I was hoping you two would show up," former agent Hellboy crowed at them, holding a beer and waving it in their general direction. "Wanna brewski? I'd offer you a cigar but they won't let me smoke in here." Tom patted his chest pocket to signify that he already had cigars; Lucine wrinkled her nose. Both followed Hellboy into the room.**

**Liz sat smiling in her hospital bed. "You look adorable," she said to Lucine. "You rock those wings! Meet Trevor and little Liz."**

**Both children, who lay in a clear plastic bassinet next to the bed, looked perfectly normal and perfectly charming. Lucine could see their demon blood clearly but said nothing.**

**"How are you feeling?" Dr. Manning asked Liz.**

**"Pretty good, considering," she replied, and then gestured to Lucine. "Would you like to hold them?"**

**Lucine shook her head. "No, it's all right. Let them rest."**

**Liz and Red chuckled but were secretly relieved that an angel of death would not be touching their infants. Tom sensed their relief and it annoyed him. "Actually, former Agent Hellboy, you have nothing to fear from Lucine. She's always been your guardian, and I'm sure she will protect your children as well."**

**"What did I say?" Red growled, waving his unlit cigar. _"What?"_ His patience with Dr. Manning had run out some time ago.**

**"Just remember that she was there at every crossroad of your life to watch over you," Tom replied. "Like when you were a baby surrounded by demons."**

**Red winced. "And – um, she – looked after me? Oh man." He looked uneasily at the woman with the big wings and the even bigger scowl. "I mean, no disrespect, Lucine, but back when we first became acquainted you looked like the dog's dinner."**

**"Well, that was rude," Tom snapped. "You obviously have no appreciation for a kind being who saved your life who knows how many times. And frankly, I wouldn't talk about the dog's dinner if I were you."**

**A scuffle might have ensued had it not been for Lucine's stepping in between these two alpha males and breaking their eye contact. Besides, not being fully human, she did not possess an inflated ego and Red's remark had little effect on her.**

**"I do not understand why humans believe that ugliness means evil and beauty means goodness. It is not so. As for me, it is true that I was once more glorious in appearance than I was when I saw you. I had no mirrors and had no idea, and quite frankly did not and do not care. My business is souls, not bodies. However, I was your protector throughout your life even though you could not see me," Lucine continued. "although I must have been out of my mind to protect hell-spawn."**

**At this, Liz laughed out loud.**

**At his best, Red was not particularly good at subtlety. The thought of a death angel tending to him gave him the shivers and he did not hide it well. "Just saying, it's not like you were my – mom, or something," he muttered.**

**"Heaven forbid," Lucine sniffed. "Yours, of course, was dead and no good to you."**

**"That's right, Red," Liz said rather sharply, following the gist of the conversation with some interest.**

**There were a few moments of silence.**

**"Give her a hug, Red," Liz said solemnly.**

**"What? _Why?_" He gestured madly, nearly slopping beer on the assembled visitors.**

**"Do it!"**

**Tom nearly gave himself a rupture suppressing at least five minutes of gut-busting laughter. Lucine gave the demon what is sometimes referred to as the stink-eye.**

**With a tremendous eye roll, Hellboy walked over to her. "Thanks – I guess." He barely touched her shoulder with his fingertips and squeezed it gingerly. "Um, like – a mom. Sort of."**

**"I knew the word would stick in your throat," Lucine replied. "You have no idea of all the terrible things that would have happened if you hadn't made the right choices."**

**"Yeah, whatever," Red replied, uncomfortable with the topic and wishing mightily that he could talk about cigars, or fighting, or beer. Or all three. He looked at Tom for help and found none; his former boss was obviously enjoying his discomfort.**

**In spite of herself, Liz asked Lucine the question she had wondered about for some time. "What would you do if Red ever ended up back in Hell?"**

**Lucine the Messenger smiled her unearthly smile. "As a human being, I could do nothing. But as an angel, I would steal him back from those who would suck his soul away. After all, I've done it before."**

**XXXXXX**

**It was 2:17 AM and Dr. Manning was sound asleep. Lucine moved quietly across the plush bedroom carpet and opened the sliding doors that led onto the balcony. She then looked down.**

**_Well, you can fall straight down and create a giant grease spot,_ she thought to herself. _Or you can soar across this city and these rivers and go wherever you like without being worried about traffic!_**

**She walked out onto the balcony, relishing the feel of the cold wind on her skin, and then stepped up upon an ornamental white lawn chair. She placed one foot gingerly on the balcony railing. Then the other.**

**She let out her breath, prayed a brief prayer, spread her wings, and fell forward.**

**She**

**dropped**

**down**

**with a stomach-twisting lurch but then her wings caught the air as they always had and lifted her, suddenly and wonderfully, up and over the rooftop of the apartment building next door.**

**Tom had played a beautiful piece of music for her earlier that night – it was Debussy's _Claire D__e Lune_ – and it resonated through her as the music in her head matched the beauty of her movements. At that moment, she felt as lovely as she had when she was new and humankind was young. Her heart filled with gratitude and the tears that fell from her eyes were carried off into the slipstream created by her wings.**

**Her eyes – somehow seeming sharper than they had been only hours ago – focused on a bridge quite a distance away. There was something about its shape that charmed her and drew her to it. With a sudden and joyful burst of energy, off she went, ripping through the clear air like a falcon.**

**There was silence in the dark apartment.**

**Tom – who had awakened a few minutes before and had silently watched her – now stood at the balcony window with his hand over his mouth.**

**He stood there for a full minute with his heart pounding, wrestling with the concept that this glorious creature was perhaps not meant for him after all; that with one snap of her black wings she could be lost to him forever.**

**He was not surprised to realize that there were tears in his eyes.**

**After a while, he picked up his cell phone and officially informed the New York Flight Standards District Office, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the Office of Homeland Security that Lucine the Messenger posed neither a hazard to navigation nor a threat to the nation's security.**

**XXXXXX**

**Several hours later, Dr. Manning received a call from the Port Authority Police.**

**"Excuse me sir," the officer said. "There's someone here who says she knows you."**

**Tom closed his eyes for just a second, the surge of relief causing his heart to race. "Is she in custody?"**

**"Not exactly. It's not every day that we spot a winged woman sitting on top of the Bayonne Bridge."**

**Tom nearly burst out laughing, but caught himself in time. "I did call you people. You do realize that the – winged woman – is a special operative of our agency."**

**"Yes, sir. I was briefed."**

**"_Top secret, officer."_**

**"Yes, sir; we're aware."**

**"_TOP._"**

**Tom waited a few moments for it to sink in while he mustered up every bit of official intimidation he possessed.**

**"How did she get down?" he asked sternly.**

**"Well, after we pulled off the automatic weapons, she told us that she would be happy to come down on her own if we had coffee."**

**"I see," Tom replied sternly while repressing a grin. Lucine did love her Starbucks.**

**"Uh, sir?"**

**"Yes?"**

**"Is she a – sort of – Homeland Security weapon of some sort?"**

**"That is exactly right. Put her on the phone. And this conversation never happened."**

**Tom was relieved to hear her voice. "Are they treating you all right?"**

**"Their coffee is awful. They had no sugar. None at all. Can you come get me? I am terribly sorry to be an inconvenience, but I got rather tired and sat down on that bridge. I found it quite lovely. They were very upset with me."**

**"I'll have to show you the Tom Cruise version of "War of the Worlds"."**

**"Why?"**

**"The aliens blew up the Bayonne Bridge in the movie."**

**"But not for real."**

**"No, Lucine, not for real. It was a movie."**

**"I am not an alien."**

**"No, my darling, but you are a winged angel hybrid and that is right next door to alien in the eyes of the law. Hold on, and I'll send a chopper to pick you up. Put the nice officer back on the phone so I can find out where you're being held."**

**"I am not being held. I was very cold and they gave me a blanket."**

**Tom suppressed a smirk, although since he was by himself he didn't need to. Lucine could be very literal.**

**The police officer came back on the line and gave him the necessary information. "Um, sir?" the officer added. "I might be out of line here as I know that this conversation is classified – but is – she – America's defense against future terrorist attacks?"**

**Tom grinned and gave his sarcasm wide rein, although it was lost on the hapless cop.**

**"Yep. That's right. The United States government has the entire Heavenly Host on the payroll. _The whole entire frapping Heavenly Host._ Do you understand? Now, send someone out and get my operative a Frappucino. On the double!"**

**"Yes, sir!"**

**XXXXXX**

**It was nearly dawn before Lucine and Tom were safely ensconced back in the condo. Tom couldn't sleep due to the incident; Lucine due to the caffeine.**

**He had no idea how many thousands of New Yorkers had seen her; photographed her; sold their photos to the New York Times or the New York Post or the New York Daily News or the National Enquirer or Star Magazine or heaven knows how many other media outlets by now. His brain was already working on a cover story.**

**_An experimental jet pack?_**

**_An ultralight aircraft?_**

**_Or how about a good old fashioned mal'ach hamavet? Sure! Why not? _**

**_When in doubt, tell the truth!_**

**_Or not!_**

**Tom mopped his brow with a handkerchief. "You know, sweet one, people are a little – twitchy about things flying around in the sky these days," Tom informed her.**

**"I do not understand why," Lucine replied sharply. "Angels have been well known for thousands of years."**

**Tom sighed and went over to the flat-screen TV, selecting a DVD from the nearby bookshelf and putting it in the player. "I would like you to watch this. It is about something that happened back in 2001. We call it Nine-Eleven. It was a horrible thing, and this is why you can't just open our balcony doors and take off."**

**Lucine spent the next hour watching CNN's "America Remembers".**

**She then spent the next hour weeping in Tom's arms.**

**As a result, they were both late to work.**


	8. Chapter 8: Star in the Sky

**CHAPTER 8: STAR IN THE SKY**

**It was difficult for Lucine to get into the swing of things at the Bureau after she and Tom had arrived and gone to their respective offices. **

**Her sleep deprivation had been bad enough but she also suffered from extreme caffeine overload. "It is no one's fault but my own," she sighed. **

**To make the morning even more unbearable, she noted that the only snacks present in the lunchroom were some picked-over pastries. **

"**Yum, pastry! Your very favorite, _S__chätze_!" Johann had chortled when he saw her enter the room.**

"**Do not be an idiot," she snapped back. "I do not like these shoes I have today. Liz said they were amazing but I do not think so. What is New York doing to prevent another Nine-Eleven?"**

**Johann snapped alert at this odd _non sequitur__._ "And what brought this on?"**

"**I went out flying last night. You have not seen the newspapers, then. Tom told me that it was imprudent; horribly imprudent because of Nine-Eleven. He told me that I was very lucky that no one emptied something called a recoilless rifle round into me. I did not quite understand him. He said there were a great many nuts in New York City, but I am afraid I did not catch his meaning as nuts are foodstuffs and they do not carry firearms. I want to know what is being done to prevent Nine-Eleven from happening again. The new building – is it called the Freedom Tower? One World Trade Center? It is very beautiful. Are the authorities afraid of another attack upon it? What about the flying tubes?"**

**Listening to Lucine speak was similar to having someone shriek at you through a wind tunnel. There was a disconnect between what she meant and what she was able to express. It took Johann a few moments to properly process her garble. **

"**I could talk about this topic for an hour and never stop," Johann replied. "Right now in this country, you can't get on a plane without taking off your shoes, half your clothing, all your jewelry, and walking through an x-ray scanner. Of course, I am an exception to the rule."**

"**What would the authorities do if they learned that another flying tube – "**

"**Plane, _S__chätze_; a plane or airplane."**

"– **if a plane had been stolen away?"**

**Johann shrugged. "I expect the military would send their latest fighter jets to blow it out of the sky," he replied.**

**Lucine was horrified. "And kill all the innocent souls?"**

"**Yes," Johann concluded. "A sacrifice of a few for the good of the many. Situational ethics, I'm afraid."**

**Lucine sat down and covered her face with her hands. "I am afraid that my eyes have started leaking once again," she said quietly. Johann patted her shoulder gingerly, mindful of the burden her new wings put on her slender frame. **

"**Johann, I did not tell Tom what I saw when I viewed that Nine-Eleven movie."**

**Johann sat across from her and listened. **

"**There were hundreds of angels flocked all around those buildings," she sighed, "carrying away those who had died. I have seen many mass dyings but I do not remember seeing quite so many of my brothers and sisters at any of them. The poor souls; it was too late for them! It – hurt my heart." She dabbed at her eyes with a spare napkin. "It must never happen again. There, now just look at my eyeliner, all over everything!"**

**Johann reached over and patted her other hand. "There are entire agencies of our government who are ready to handle another terrorist attack."**

**She looked up sharply. "That is exactly what I am afraid of," she replied.**

"**Fear not, _S__chätze_. Take a breath and relax. Not everyone in the government of the United States is a _dum__m__kopf._ This about which you speak happened a number of years ago and we have learned much since then."**

**Lucine dabbed her eyes a final time. "I did read on the hand machine that some humans broke in and jumped from One World Trade Center and the security guard had been asleep. They had things like wings on their backs. But if you tell me not to worry, then I will not."**

"**Hand machine?" Johann inquired.**

**Lucine looked at his mechanical face and smiled. "What are they called? Phones, I believe. Tom has showed me how to learn about anything I choose on them."**

**Johann waited a few moments; there was clearly something on his mind and he felt the need to bide his time. He waited until Lucine had gotten up and checked the coffee pot.**

"**There are those black speckled things in the bottom," she muttered, scowling at it.**

"**They will not kill you. Are you feeling better now?" he asked.**

"**I suppose so," she replied.**

**Johann cleared his throat. "There is another matter I wish to mention to you as long as we are here," he said. "It is not a serious matter; not at all, and I am doing my best to shut it down, but it seems that there exists an informal competition as to which B.P.R.D. department can come up with the most humorous nickname for you."**

**She turned to him, glaring, the offending coffee pot still gripped in her hand.**

"**And?"**

"**Well, so far, I've heard Angel Honey Pie, Angel Candy, Angel Munchkin, Angel Berry, and Angel Sweetie Lips. Naturally, I will quash it if I hear any more about it. But I thought you should know." **

**Later, Lucine congratulated herself for her restraint in not throwing the pot across the hall to explode through the conference room window. Nevertheless, she left the lunchroom ready to punch someone in the throat.**

**XXXXX**

**Tom Manning had seen the morning papers and online news sites and it was not good. Not. Good. At. All. Some of the photos of his airborne _inamorata_ were so clear you could even count the feathers on her wings. **

"**Dammit," he growled. His swearing increased proportionately to his reading of an article on the National Enquirer website. "Aw hell."**

"_**IS NEW YORK THE NEW CITY OF ANGELS?**_

_**Dozens of New Yorkers saw a new star in the skies above NYC last night, and it had nothing to do with Hollywood or Los Angeles.**_

_**The phone lines of every police precinct in the city lit up yesterday evening as citizens reported an unidentified flying object – more specifically, a young woman who appeared to be flying through the night sky with what eyewitnesses have called angel wings.**_

_**Darren Hortubagy, assistant custodian at a New Jersey Port Authority office, said that he saw the unearthly visitor up close and personal.**_

**_'__She had landed on top of the bridge and every cop in the area had guns trained on her. Anyway, she flew down and I watched as the officers interrogated_ _her. __The strange thing was that she sort of had angel wings. But she was no angel. __I mean, angels are supposed to be nice and all but she scared hell out of me. She was just a little thing but man, was she rough on those cops! __She threatened them with God's wrath. I couldn't understand half the stuff she said; it was in weird languages. I couldn't figure out whether she was just a wack job or __what.__'_**

_**In spite of an unbreakable wall of silence erected by Port Authority officials, hundreds of security cameras around the city captured these images of the elusive visitor to the Big Apple."**_

**This turgid prose was followed at least a dozen pictures of Lucine.  
**

"**Dammit all. They'd better keep their traps shut if they know what's good for them," Manning growled, reaching for his bottle of Rolaids. **

**XXXXX**

**The following day, the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense ****sponsored the weekly symposium of academics, religious leaders, and scientists. **

**Its purpose, of course, was to have a select group of intellectuals glean information of all sorts from Lucine Mal'akha. Of course, their numbers and interest had drastically increased ever since she had grown a new set of wings; nevertheless, she was in no mood for trifling this day. Lucine had never suffered fools gladly during her long life and never had to, if smiting them instead would have sufficed. The thought of smiting a few of the jackasses before her was a pleasant one, and she half-dreamed of former glories as the questions droned on and on.**

"**Was it entirely necessary for Sodom and Gomorrah to be destroyed, and in such a manner?" a member of Lucine's Sewing Circle (as Hellboy had called it) inquired in a testy voice.**

"**I do not like your tone," the former death angel replied, pointing her index finger at him in an ominous manner. "Do not question the will of God."**

"**Well, what about it?" a rabbi interjected. "How exactly was it accomplished?"**

**Lucine rolled her crooked eyes and sighed. "They were very evil people. We were told to lay waste to the place. We pulled in a great stone from beyond Earth. Tzadkiel took Gomorrah and I took Sodom." She shrugged. "There had been natron and sulfur all around, so everything lit up easily."**

**Another scientist jumped up, elated. "Just as we thought!" he cried, and thrust a photograph of an Sumerian clay tablet into Lucine's hand. "This is called the Planisphere tablet, and it is a record of an ancient asteroid event over the Levant, Sinai, and Northern Egypt during the time the two cities were destroyed!" **

**Lucine squinted at it. "If I told you that this was an advertisement for women's undergarments, none of you would be in a position to challenge me. Do you people honestly believe – "**

**There was silence. **

**All in the conference room looked at her, waiting for her to finish her sentence.**

**Lucine sat motionless, clutching the photograph with her eyes staring straight ahead. **

**Two of the group members came up to her and called her name several times. **

**After a few more moments, others shook her shoulders to no effect. **

**Finally, an apprehensive young geologist – who was secretly smitten by the _mal'ach ha mavet _with her slender frame and sleek black outfits – left the room to get help.**

**XXXXX**

**Within ten minutes the seemingly unconscious Lucine had been taken to the medical unit and given a physical examination. **

**The doctors immediately suspected that the trouble was some sort of prolonged epileptic seizure. Johann had attempted to read her mind, but quickly determined that the language echoing around in her head was not of Earth and he could make little of it. He had asked his assistants to locate Abe Sapien and bring him to the Trenton facility as soon as possible. The doctors were apprehensive, as always, when Lucine came to their facility and today was no exception. Hela's patch-job had not been a good one and each of the doctors was of the belief that one of these days the whole creaky mess would collapse and Lucine the Destroyer would pass onto her own eternal reward. Of course, none of them was stupid enough to share such concerns with Dr. Thomas Manning, who would have gone into total meltdown at the prospect of losing his angel.**

**Predictably, the good doctor was currently a wreck, feeling that flying around the city the night before had damaged his Lucine in some incomprehensible way and that it was all his fault. She had been so excited that she could fly and he had responded by making her watch that horrible documentary that had made her cry. What had he been thinking? Johann had kindly suggested that Tom devise a press campaign to explain Lucine's appearance in an effort to distract him sufficiently to get him out of the doctors' hair. He finally went back to his office, which came as a great relief to everyone.**

**Abe arrived to scan Lucine. He did so, saying nothing for a good ten minutes.**

"**This is terrible," he finally announced. "Very painful. It is fire, and slaughter, and noise. Lots of screaming; lots of death. Because I cannot understand her language, I cannot interpret what I can only describe as her visions. I cannot tell whether she is seeing the past, the present, or portents of the future. She is very unhappy and is quite trapped in this – horrible place in her head. I tried to communicate with her but I don't believe she can hear me. She is very high up and very far away. The visions just keep looping again and again and give her no peace."**

**Johann stepped forward. "She had just learned about the attacks on New York and Washington – could it be that?"**

**Abe shrugged, holding his friend's cold little hands. "Unknown," he replied.**

**One of the doctors spoke up. "Perhaps she is reliving the trauma she experienced when she was attacked by demons. It wasn't all that long ago, and if it was vicious enough to nearly destroy her body, she could easily be suffering from post-traumatic stress."**

**The chief physician stood. "Well, let's let her rest. Tape her eyes shut if you must. She can't stare into space all day without harming them." **

"**I'll sit here with her, if you don't mind," Abe said in his calm and quiet way.**

**Johann nodded, and then turned and left the room.**

**XXXXX**

**He found Tom Manning seated at his desk with his face in his hands.**

"**_Wie gehts,_" Johann said. "Lucine is having visions, apparently, and is in some sort of fugue state. Physically, she's okay. Heartbeat, pulse, all in the normal range. Not to worry. She's resting right now, so I thought I'd come up and let you know."**

**Tom straightened. "You will let me know if there is any change?"**

**Johann nodded. "_N__atürlich__, mein freund. _And how are you doing on the press idea we discussed?"**

"**The brass in Washington won't buy it," he groused. "I tried to pitch the concept of letting the public get to know her; remember what we eventually did for Hellboy, Liz, and Abe? A "Meet Lucine" sort of promotion is what I had in mind. However, they made it abundantly clear that nothing even remotely related to religion must be part of a government program upon which taxpayer money is spent. I mean, what am I supposed to do now? She's a servant of the Almighty! An angel of the Lord! Am I seriously supposed to say that she was a trainee tooling around town in an advanced sort of flying wing?" He ran his hands through what was left of his hair. "They'll never buy it."**

**There was a sudden pounding at the door. Tom nearly jumped out of his skin and Johann rounded instantly.**

**An intern burst in, not even waiting for the invitation to enter. "She's awake, sirs; what she is saying – well, you've got to hear it for yourselves. We are recording it for later analysis. This way, gentlemen!"**

**XXXXX**

**Lucine stood in the center of the room, the tape still on her closed eyelids. Her hands were stretched before her, her manicured fingers now hooked into claws. A ring of people surrounded her, many with their smart phones filming her extraordinary outburst. Tom began to reach for her; the chief physician held him back.**

"_**Death – will come from the heavens – not death for all – they will break what is unbreakable but that is not the sword thrust; not the killing blow! Run! Run! Anung un Rama and his kin are doomed; help them! The tower shatters, the souls fly to Heaven! The demons suck the city dry; the demons and their pawns shall do the will of those who do not understand and those who do not accept! There is a cloud; a great cloud of black death and it is poison from the sky; poison – "**_

**Tom shoved the doctor aside and grabbed Lucine, holding her close. She cried out in surprise but did not resist.**

"**Lucine, listen to me, sweetheart. Tell me about the cloud. What shape does it have? What shape, sweetheart?"**

**She pressed her face into his suit coat. "Like the food the other night – like that delicious food at the little place we went; we ate it with our fingers – it – "**

**Tom went white. "Stuffed baked mushrooms, Lucine! Does the cloud look like the mushrooms?"**

**She nodded. **

**His face went slack. **

**Tom turned to the crowd. "There will be some sort of thermonuclear detonation in the city, and soon," he cried. "Let's move!"**

**Within seconds alarms sounded and people sprang into immediate action. Predetermined codes were issued; multitudes of warnings among the government branches and the military went out instantly. Abe immediately called both Hellboy and Liz but got no answer from either; he left urgent messages telling them both to seek a place of safety immediately.**

**Tom was too preoccupied to react when Lucine the Messenger tore the tape from her eyes and wrenched herself out of his arms. **

**She raced down the corridor like a madwoman.**

**Shoving people out of her way right and left, she finally gained access to the main door. Ignoring the guards' surprised faces, she reached out and her palms hit the doors. They opened wide. Within seconds Lucine had snapped out her wings and launched herself into the sky.**

**She had not revealed to anyone back at the Bureau that an incoming airliner was involved. **

**She prayed to the God of Abraham that this tactic would allow her to get to it faster than an F-16.**

**XXXXX**

**Chaos continued at the Bureau as Abe answered his cell phone. It was Red, in a panic.**

"**What the hell is going on?" Hellboy asked. "What the hell was that message you left me? Trying to give me a heart attack?" **

"**Lucine had a vision – I think it was part of the Hellboy prophecy coming back to her. When she came out of it, she said you and your family are in danger and there may be a nuclear weapon of some sort in the city. Where are you now?"**

"**I'm home, but Liz and the kids are in lower Manhattan doing some shopping. I just called her and told her to get the hell out of there. She's down near the Freedom Tower and she said she's leaving now."**

**Abe's heart skipped a beat. "I think whatever is about to hit the fan is going to hit around there. Get down there now, Red," he cried. "Go get them yourself. I'm sending agents down there right now to find all of you. Get going!" **

**He ended the call and went to find Tom.**

"**Everyone is on alert," Manning said. "The NEST guys have been notified. The only problem is sniffing out the device, if there is one. They've already measured background radiation levels throughout the City; there are no blips yet. There are transit and NYPD cops everywhere. They're keeping a close watch on the Freedom Tower; Lucine mentioned a tower and it's the only logical choice. Where is she anyway, for God's sake?"**

"**Easy, there," Abe said, fearing that the old man would give himself a stroke. "What bothers me is the mention of demons. If I were you, I'd think about recalling former agent Hellboy. I just spoke to him. He's looking for Liz and the kids. This is just my opinion here, but if you don't have an angel to ferret out the devils, you might as well get yourself another devil."**

**XXXXX**

**Lucine shivered as she looked down upon the open Atlantic.**

**She had given herself a few precious moments to ruminate on the day. Her first mistake had been keeping back part of the Hellboy prophecy from those who deserved to hear it. Whatever fiery disaster was about to befall the city of New York was destined to kill Elizabeth Sherman and her children, which would propel Hellboy towards the destiny he had always feared. Angels are as omniscient as God allows them to be; angel/human hybrids are not. Lucine had thought she could handle the upcoming events herself, but she was beginning to realize that she had been wrong.**

**Dead wrong.**

**Her second mistake was deciding to reach the hijacked plane herself. Having lived for four hundred years mostly underground, Lucine had been unaware that jets routinely fly in the stratosphere, where there is no oxygen to breathe and temperatures average about sixty below zero. An angel would never have had to worry about high altitude pulmonary edema and its evil twin, high altitude cerebral edema. The altitude was sucking her life away, yet she lacked the self-centeredness necessary to turn herself around. The people on that plane were innocent souls and she could not let them fall into the cold dark sea beneath her icy wings. **

**Shivering uncontrollably and distracted by her pounding headache, Lucine now realized that there was no way she could reach the endangered aircraft. With a supreme effort, she cried out mentally once again to Mother Hel. **

**Her last thought before she fell out of the sky was how lovely it had been the other evening, snuggled up with Tom listening to Debussy and eating nachos.**


	9. Chapter 9: Attack

**CHAPTER 9: ATTACK**

**Hela, former goddess of death of the old Norse religion, heard Lucine the Messenger's cry for help for the second time and rushed to her aid immediately.**

**Like most agents of life and death, Hela had a knack for sussing out evildoers. Consequently, it was no problem for her to locate a transatlantic airliner now making its way to New York in which things had gone terribly wrong. She now hovered outside in the bone-cracking cold of thirty thousand feet, listening to the hijackers and watching what was going on in the passenger compartments. **

**Over the last few months during which the attack was being planned, the terrorists had no idea that devils in human form conspired among their numbers. These adherents cared nothing for their ideology or the destruction of infidels. Their sole goal was to snatch back the soul of Anung un Rama, who had been firmly within the camp of righteousness for many years now. The denizens of Hell had failed to kill his surrogate mother and protector; they would not allow another failure to keep Anung un Rama from becoming the true prince of Hell and the architect of the world's end. **

**After all, was that not his destiny?**

**The plan currently in execution was to hijack a transatlantic flight and crash it against the Freedom Tower, not to bring it down (because it is designed to withstand such an assault) but to use it as a distraction. With so many millions of eyes and cameras pointed at the top of the building, no one would focus on the thermonuclear device planted in the lobby. **

**The designers of aircraft and of building security since Nine-Eleven had been good – excellent, in fact – but their detectors and devices were far from foolproof. The terrorists had spent many years finding the weaknesses in the western system of defenses against them, and today it would all come home.**

**The goddess of death entered the fuselage, silent and unseen by the dozens of weeping and frantic passengers. Two people had been shot by the highjackers in order to intimidate them, just like others had on Flight 93 years before. One victim had been an old man who had died immediately. Hela detected a strong life force in the second; a man specifically targeted by the highjackers because he was the sky marshal and a trained pilot. **

**He was, in fact, still alive.**

**Hela knelt next to him and began to flood him with healing energy.**

**XXXXXX**

**With a sudden shocking jolt to her spine, Lucine snapped out of her blackout to find herself still in midair; cradled in the arms of a handsome man with long wavy hair tied back in a horsetail. He had a mustache and beard and a big smile; Lucine smiled back with gratitude and relief.**

"**Ullr, is it?" she asked. "Hela's consort and god of winter and the hunt?"**

**His grin increased. "At your service, Lucine the Messenger. Hela told me you were in trouble. She's up in the plane and I'm here to take you wherever you need to go."**

**Lucine, her body still tingling with the shock of coming to so sharply and so suddenly, looked down at New York Harbor and the lights of the city twinkling beautifully beneath them.**

"**Take me to One World Trade Center, if you please," she said.**

****XXXXXX****

**The highjackers hadn't been in the cockpit for any longer than a few minutes when Hela smoothly glided through the door. They hadn't shut off the transponders or done anything else that would tip off ground control that a highjacking had in fact occurred. They were talking rapidly between themselves, planning their next move, and did not notice the death goddess materializing behind them.**

"**Hello, gentlemen," she said, her half death-head face curved into a sinister smile. They turned and screamed. Within seconds, Hela snatched their souls and disappeared, just as the revived sky marshal entered to retake control of the airliner.**

****XXXXXX****

**Chaos reigned in lower Manhattan. Law enforcement personnel swarmed the streets, searching for terrorist activity and most particularly for the nuclear device about which Tom Manning had warned them. Hellboy and Abe were frantically trying to get to Liz and the children, which was practically impossible among the mobs of people trying to get away from the area. They were following the signal from her cell phone, and both prayed that the battery would last until they found her.**

**There were roadblocks everywhere. Lucine thanked Ullr when they touched down on the plaza; he nodded and quickly blended in with the crowd. Now, Lucine undertook the task of how to get herself inside. The Freedom Tower had been evacuated – a task made far easier thanks to its design features – but among the swarms of people rushing out, others were surreptitiously making their way in. Some had been hiding within the building for hours, just like the bomb they had smuggled in.**

**Lucine was chilled to the bone and her back hurt, but this did not stop her from marching up to a Transit Authority cop who stood in front of one of the entrances.**

"**Sorry, lady, you can't go in. The building is closed." His eyes widened when he spotted her wings. He had read the New York Post and seen the pictures. "Hey, aren't you that - "**

**Lucine stood firmly and placed her hands on her hips. "This building is open to me, guardian of the soul of Anung un Rama."**

"**Huh?" he said as she snapped her wings, knocking him aside and dashing into the lobby.**

**It had less than difficult for the terrorists to infiltrate the Freedom Tower. It was, in fact, open to the public. Disguised as busboys, clerks, fast food workers, and business people, they now got down to the business of ensuring that today's plan would be a success. They quickly joined those who had entered the building during the chaos of evacuation. Instead of security guards and beat cops, building management would have done far better with soldiers with automatic weapons. But hindsight is golden, as the sages say, and the big guns – New York's SWAT and NEST teams - had yet to arrive. **

**The terrorists made quick work of disposing of those who had the misfortune not to evacuate in time. Others jammed the doors shut. The terrible clatter of automatic weapons made Lucine's heart jump as she hung back around the corner, looking at the men who were now intent on murdering as many infidels as they could find. **

**A primal hiss of warning escaped her lips; _you will pay dearly for __the murder of __innocents._ **

**While all of the men before her appeared to be human, some were demons. She could see their hideous faces behind the human meat they wore. It had always been her job to smite devils and Lucine was deadly good at her job. That would have to wait, however, until reinforcements arrived. Right now she was as mortal as any of the people out on the plaza.**

**Suddenly, one of the demons spotted her. **

**Her heart thudded in dread as he suddenly pointed at her and, unbelievably, began to laugh.**

"**It's that angel we destroyed in Bethmoora!" he shrieked to his compatriots. "Remember me, Hag? I smashed in your bony face with the lid of a soul-jar!"**

**Lucine felt a pulse of rage but immediately suppressed it. Rage was wrong here and she knew it. It was self-centered and a distraction from her true work, that of protecting Elizabeth Sherman and her children. She had a sudden vision of a piece of masonry falling on the stroller and killing the little ones; another falling on Liz, snapping her spine but sparing her life so that she could just lie there and scream and scream and scream -**

**The last piece of the Hellboy prophecy finally slammed into Lucine's head.**

_**Hellboy himself would come across the three battered bodies and he would lose his mind as surely as the Sun rises in the east; the demons hidden in their human guise nearby would care for him and would assuage his grief and horror with dreams of glory and power you will be the King of Hell you will be our savior and prince forever and ever all hail Anung un Rama, our leader –**_

**The men approached her, not to kill her but to torment her. While it would be most unpleasant, it might give her enough time for law enforcement to retake the lobby. **

**She raised her little chin and stared them down.**

****XXXXXX****

**Red had called Elizabeth Sherman earlier; a frantic and terrible call that urged her to take the babies and run as far away from the Freedom Tower as she could. He had told her there was a bomb and that she must be far away when and if it detonated. He said that he was on his way but it didn't look good.**

**_Even my fire won't help,_ Liz thought frantically, _if fire is the problem._**

**A sharp wind, smelling of pestilence, whistled past Liz's startled face. The air had been heavy around her and the children and she had heard shrieks and screams as well as the endless wail of too many sirens. Close. Very close. She scooped up her babies in her arms and then had kicked off her shoes just like the women had on September 11 years ago. **

**She ran. **

**A sudden dreadful panic overcame her, freezing the breath within her body and causing her to scream out a mental prayer for protection. Death was as close to her as the very sidewalk over which she ran clumsily with her precious burdens.**

_**OH DEAR GOD LET ME LIVE SAVE MY BABIES PLEASE DEAR JESUS GOD**_

_****XXXXXX****_

**Lucine Mal'akha knew her time for waiting had expired when a sudden burst of automatic weapon fire tore through her right wing. She screamed in pain and fell. Several devils ran towards her, eager to rip her to pieces.**

"**Use the flamethrower on her now! She'll love that!" another demon shrieked, laughing.**

**Lucine closed her eyes tightly; waiting for the next blow and trying not to remember what had happened to her at her temple in Bethmoora.**

**_They had pinned her down with __their __black magicks and as she lay there, poor thing with the sand sticking to her smashed and bleeding face and the shrieks of the stolen souls pleading for rescue, they had set her entire back and her lovely black wings on fire. She would never forget the smell of burning feathers and flesh – her own. Her screams of pain could be heard for miles, but there was no one to hear her. __And then one of them picked up her staff and went for her eyes__ -_**

_**No**_

_**NO!**_

_**STOP!**_

**With supreme effort, she pushed away the thoughts that were now weakening her, and instead prayed for help with such fervent intensity that her slight body began to glow.**

**No one noticed her. All were looking over as a large assembly of police officers began pounding at the lobby doors, guns at the ready.**

_**WARN THEM NOW**_

**Lucine pulsed a mental message into their communication devices. They heard her warning as a stern male voice with a Brooklyn accent – **

_**GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT **_

_**REMEMBER NINE-ELEVEN**_

_**THOSE COPS ALL DIED GET OUT**_

_**GET OUT NOW OR YOU WILL DIE**_

**Shocked, they retreated, confused as to which of their superiors had given the order, and began clearing a perimeter several blocks back.**

**Something happened in the cavernous lobby. The very air changed and began to vibrate. Everyone – human or demon – paused; heads cocked; minds alert. The atmosphere became filled with electric potential; light fixtures exploded one after another like popcorn. Lucine got to her feet.**

**A tremendous power filled her as the being she always was – the dread _mal'ach hamavet_ – began to manifest before them. **

**She wove tapestries of protection around herself in Enochian as her form expanded upward until her head touched the high ceiling of the lobby. She felt multiple eyes punch through her wings; eyes that immediately saw what no human could see. **

_**THE BOMB IS IN THE WALL THE BOMB IS IN THE WALL RIGHT TO THE LEFT OF THE RECEPTION AREA**_

**Her upper face morphed into a smooth eyeless dome. Ignoring the gasps of horror from the men she stretched her ebony wings across the great room. Grinning her terrible death-head smile, she snapped them hard, the air burst flinging the terrorists to the far side of the lobby. **

**Three breathless seconds passed. She pulsed another message to the officers.**

**_GET __AWAY__ GET __AWAY__ NOW AND DON'T LOOK __AND COVER YOUR EARS_**

**The power of Heaven and of the ages coursed through her. Lucine was enveloped with a white light that blinded the humans who gazed upon her. Her garments, pure white and as new as the day she had been created, became brighter than a thousand suns. The terrorists screamed. **

_**YOU WILL NOT HARM MY ANUNG UN RAMA OR HIS KIN BECAUSE I WILL NOT ALLOW IT **_

**Suddenly, the air was sucked out of the room as Lucine the Destroyer opened her mouth and roared out death and doom, exploding the heads of each and every human and demon. Simultaneously, every window in One World Trade Center blew out. The souls of the humans – tiny points of light – were immediately pulled into the inverted dome that constituted the upper half of Lucine's head. Curiously, they briefly formed a glittering halo around her terrifying white face.**

**Once the last soul was captured, Lucine vanished.**

**All at once, the huge lobby doors burst open, admitting members of the Nuclear Emergency Support Team, desperate to get to the bomb behind the reception area wall. A group of law enforcement personnel streamed in behind them.**

"**Steady on," said a large rugged man with a sandy beard as he shouldered his way through the crowd. "Tell me this. Can this bomb be frozen?"**

**A NEST member looked at him, confused. "Why – yes," he returned. "Liquid nitrogen can stop a detonation, depending on the – "**

"**Then you people had better clear the area and I'll take care of it," said Ullr the Winter God.**

**The operative looked frantically around the man to see how much equipment he carried. He saw none. Others stood their ground, uncertain of the man's authority to order them around; at least, until what became a blinding snowstorm was suddenly pulled down from high above them, right through the ceiling, and swirled around the newcomer with icy cold and bitter winds. "I will give you ten seconds to clear the area," Ullr said calmly.**

**Everybody ran – cops, firefighters, bystanders. It was a near thing because a polar vortex spiraled up and out of Ullr's body and froze the entire Freedom Tower solid, inside and out. The thermonuclear device – hidden within a crevice in the great front lobby wall – froze solid as well.**

**And with that, the terrorist attack was over.**

****XXXXXX****

**Elizabeth Sherman looked back and up to see the Freedom Tower explode – no, it was the glass; just the panes of glass! They showered down upon the evacuated wasteland of city blocks. Some of them exploded dangerously near her. She screamed and continued to run, her children wailing as they bounced along in a clumsy triumvirate. **

**A sudden chill swept through the air, nearly knocking Liz down. The air became so cold that she gasped for breath and crouched over, desperately trying to place the palms of her warm hands over the mouths and noses of her infants. She looked up once again and saw pure white ice crackle its way all the way up to the summit of the great icon to the American spirit. The Freedom Tower had somehow been frozen, and glittered in the sun like a lovely shard of afternoon fire.**

**And then something happened; something Liz had no words to describe. Her imminent death, along with the deaths of her children, had somehow been –**

**Averted?**

_**HOW?**_

**And for the first and last time in her life, Elizabeth Sherman had a vision. Lucine's face swam before her. The death angel looked as she did when Liz first saw her except that she was new and beautiful and radiated a brilliant white light. Lucine smiled at her, and the thought she slammed into Liz's brain was one that promised comfort and safety.**

_**BE WELL MY FRIEND TAKE CARE OF ALL FOUR OF THEM**_

**And then, she was gone.**

**Liz, exhausted and confused, fell to her knees on the cold concrete and burst into hard and burning tears. For a moment she was sorry that she had abandoned the stroller many blocks behind as the muscles in her arms burned with overexertion. What did Lucine mean? Who was she supposed to take care of, then?**

**Red, for certain! **

**And the twins! But who else?**

**A new flood of tears ran down her cheeks as it came to her.**

**Tom Manning, of course.**

**_Oh my God he will be lost without her, _she thought, shaking her head and bending over, feeling as if she might vomit. She knelt on the sidewalk for a little while as Trevor and little Liz cried along with her. **

**She looked up suddenly. Running toward her were Red, Abe, and a group of agents.**

**A surge of joy thrummed through her body.**

**_Thank __you dear Lord__ for GPS!_**


	10. Chapter 10: Aftermath

**CHAPTER 10: AFTERMATH**

"_**This is Marta Calvache of WNBC in New York with breaking news. Earlier today, a reprise of the attack of September 11, 2001 was thwarted by forces not fully understood by law enforcement officials.**_

_**A Paris to New York flight was highjacked this morning by a group of seven ISIS terrorists who shot two passengers, one fatally. Mr. Bernard Chouet, 76, had been on his way to visit his daughter in Queens when his life ended at thirty thousand feet. The other victim was Stanley N. Williams, 37, a sky marshal specifically placed on board to thwart attacks. Although he had been lying unconscious on the floor for more than twenty minutes bleeding from a wound to the chest cavity, he was somehow able to rise and reenter the cockpit only to find the two terrorists dead in their seats. **_

_**Mr. Williams immediately notified FAA officials of the situation and was able to bring the plane in safely. As overjoyed passengers and crew cheered as the plane made an emergency landing at Newark, all Mr. Williams said was that he had received help from on high. Officials surrounded him when he disembarked and took him to an undisclosed medical facility for treatment.**_

_**While this drama in the skies was ongoing, there was a simultaneous terrorist attack at the Freedom Tower. Jim Stix is at the scene with a report."**_

"_**Good evening Marta. Eleven bystanders and twenty-three terrorists died here today at One World Trade Center. There was also a significant amount of property damage here as well. Fortunately, the terrorist attack that was meant to kill tens of thousands was – well, Marta, I guess you would have to say stopped – by a force that apparently killed the terrorists and blew out the windows of the Freedom Tower. Oddly enough, Marta, the tower was somehow frozen solid after that. Officials declined to speak to me this evening but it was reported that a man entered the building and the freezing occurred shortly thereafter. We are told that his identity is unknown and law enforcement spokespeople are not providing details. Security tapes within a ten-block radius have all been impounded. Officials are also not disclosing the names or any information whatsoever about the person or persons who killed the terrorists.**_

_**There are also rumors that a nuclear device was found within the building and that it was quickly disarmed. We asked Nuclear Emergency Support Team press representatives for details tonight, but all that they said was that we were very lucky today. To say this is a mystery of massive proportions is perhaps the understatement of the century. Back to you, Marta."**_

"**Enough of this local stuff," Red said, clicking the remote. "Let's see what CNN has to say. These guys are telling us diddly squat."**

**Liz and Hellboy sat on their couch in their one-bedroom apartment huddled together watching the broadcast, the children asleep in their laps. Abe sat with them. All three were shocked and depressed by the day's events.**

"**It was Lucine, you know," Abe said. "She told me in my head. She was able to return to her original form and save the day. I wonder what happened to her?"**

**Liz nodded. "She appeared to me too. She told me to take care of Red and the kids, and I think she wanted me to look out for Tom as well. Has anyone checked on him?"**

**Nobody had.**

"**I don't believe in all that mumbo-jumbo," Red rumbled. "but I think she talked to me too, somehow. Something about fate being averted but not thwarted; she said the demons were partially behind this and that they'll try again."**

**There was silence among them for a few minutes as the television blared on and on about the attack on New York.**

"**She saved the kids and me, Red," Liz said. "I was sure we were going to die and then it was – just – over."**

"**N****ot to put too fine a point on it,****" ****Abe added, "s****he saved ****at least ****eight million people ****today****.****"**

**H****ellboy was not one for introspection, but the shock of today's events had shaken him deeply. "If they were after me ****and mine****, then she did her job. Again. Keeping ****us**** alive. ****She's a good gal. ****I just hope she's okay, wherever she is."**

**XXXXXX**

**Over the next ten days, the media machine spun the story over and over on all the networks, blogs, and websites of the world. Most frustrating to the journalists and public alike is that government representatives at the city, state, and federal levels were saying next to nothing. People demanded answers and got none.**

**There was a great clamor in Congress which ended quickly as national security and secrecy laws were invoked. One World Trade Center had been officially closed for both cleanup and the ongoing law enforcement investigation which, incidentally, had uncovered very little.**

**XXXXXX**

**Tom Manning had not been to work in a week. **

**Johann, Hellboy, and Abe went to the condo to check on him; they knocked and knocked but he did not come to the door. After the ****custodian**** let them in ****for a well-being check****, they found ****Tom ****ensconced behind his computer, watching the ****Freedom Tower security foo****tage over and over again. ****A recording of Clair De Lune by the London Symphony Orchestra was playing in the background in a continuous loop.**

**Tom did not acknowledge them so they quietly filed in behind him. ****The three visitors watched ****over his shoulder ****with interest as the film was highly classified. ****There was Lucine, ****first a small woman ****surrounded by men who were poking ****her with guns ****and pushing her, ****and then a monstrous being**** so bright that the cameras were ****damaged ****by the lens flare****. **

"**She just disappears; did you see that? One second, she's there and the next, there is nothing. She vanishes utterly and without a trace." A tear ran down Manning's haggard face and dripped off his unshaven chin.**

"**Hey, buddy, take it easy," said Hellboy, placing his hand on his former boss's shoulder. "We came over to blow you to a big meal. We'll smoke a couple of Cuban cigars. Drink a couple shots of Johnny Walker Blue. What do you say?"**

**T****om shook his head. "I can't leave, don't you see? If she comes back, I won't be here. She'll wonder where I went that was so important that I would leave her like that.****"**

"**I have an idea, then," said the kindly Abe. "Why don't we get you cleaned up and fix the apartment up a little. Then we'll call for some take-out Chinese and ****we can all ****wait for her here."**

**T****om looked at them, his expression heartbr****eaking****. He nodded.**

"**Come along, **_**mein freund**_**," Johann said quietly. The three men ****helped**** Tom out of the chair and ****walked him ****toward the shower.**

**XXXXX**

**Liz tried hard to work up enough courage to take the children outside for a walk, but couldn't get past her own front door. "My peace of mind is gone and so is Lucine," she thought. She missed her strange friend; Liz was a solitary person and did not let many people close to her. **

**She also fretted about the fact that neither she nor Red had a job at the moment. No one particularly wanted to hire a the once so-called cute girl who might immolate the general area or a large bright red humanoid with a stone fist, no matter how novel they once were. **

**As the ancient Romans used to say, "all glory is fleeting."**

**Liz spent her days watching news broadcasts – CNN, Fox, the networks, all of them. She went through several sets of AA batteries endlessly clicking the remote. There was nothing more about the attack. **

**The days went by as they always do, and gradually the topic of the New York attacks faded from the breaking news.**

**XXXXX**

**The Bureau kept its lid of silence firmly on both law enforcement and the news media under threat of "undermining an ongoing police investigation involving national security." Tom Manning's days were endless, but he was grateful for even the most mindless of activity because Lucine was gone. Like his poor friend Abe Sapien, his heart had been broken as well.**

**XXXXX**

**One cheerless and rainy evening, Dr. Manning went home and opened his door to the smell of cooking and the sound of Clair De Lune wafting through his condo.**

**Trembling, he walked across the living room. He heard the sound of a spatula scraping the bottom of a frying pan. He began to cry.**

**Rounding the corner, he looked into the small kitchen and saw Lucine as she was the last time he saw her. She wore one of his big flannel shirts that he'd cut up the back to accommodate her wings and a pair of sweat socks. She looked up at him and smiled.**

"**I thought you might be hungry," she said in her odd whispery voice. "I took their souls for judgment, you know; they rewarded me for my constancy and good deeds by granting me my heart's desire."**

**Tom stood, shaking.**

"**Which was you."**

**She blinked at him, her golden eyes now straight and level. "If you still want me, that is."**

**He grabbed her and held her so tightly that she dropped the spatula.**

**She wrapped her wings – now embellished with wise golden eyes of their own – around them both.**

**XXXXX**

**It came as no surprise that within several weeks of the thwarted attack someone stole the Freedom Tower security tape from the FBI evidence locker and released it on YouTube. ****Of course, this single act utterly destroyed the government's plausible deniability. And, of course, everyone wanted to know what sort of creature it was who had both killed the terrorists and saved New York in one fell swoop.**

"**You have to come forward, Lucine," Tom Manning argued.**

"**No."**

"**There are talks of book and movie deals – "**

"**No."**

"– **reality television shows – "**

"**No."**

"– **congressional awards – "**

"**No."**

"**Don't you want an apartment next to Central Park? One of those swanky jobs?"**

"**No."**

"**Don't you want fame and fanfare?"**

"**No."**

"**Why?"**

"**I already have everything I want."**

"**How about a quiet announcement by the Mayor, and that's it?"**

"**Would it make you happy?"**

"**You've already made me happy. But can I set it up?"**

**XXXXX**

**Hellboy and Liz sat watching the mayoral press conference. Abe sat in a winged armchair nearby, having moved a box of Pampers and set it on the cluttered floor. A one-bedroom apartment was far too small for their accumulated possessions as well as nine cats, about which the landlord knew nothing.**

**It wasn't just the mayor, of course. The governor was there along with military and civic leaders, all to announce the name of the individual who saved the city that never sleeps. Since there were security concerns, the press conference was held at an undisclosed location.**

"**Hand me that popcorn, babe," Red asked.**

"**Change this poopy diaper first," Liz declared, handing Trevor to him.**

"**Hey, l****ook at me, Abe,"Hellboy chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I'm living the dream." **

**XXXXXX**

**The mayor approached the bank of microphones. "I am pleased today to introduce you to a very special individual, one who you have no doubt seen on certain websites." **

_**(laughter from the small crowd) **_

"**I know we all must be sensitive to all religious beliefs held in our great city – and to all persons who have no religious beliefs, of course – but it's hard to speak about our guest today without alluding to it. The individual who saved our city is – an angel."**

_**(confused murmuring, expressions of surprise, and a few shouts of disbelief and outrage)**_

"**Without getting into how she came to be among us, for the past number of months she has been a special operative of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. In fact, some of our citizens were privileged to see her grace our skies one night not too long ago. It seems that she appreciates the beautiful architecture of the Bayonne Bridge."**

_**(Laughter)**_

_**(Shout from the crowd "DOES SHE KNOW HELLBOY?" followed by applause) **_

**The mayor chuckled. "In fact, she is a special guardian of our favorite red guy. In spite of her trying to keep a low profile after her debut in New York's skies, when danger struck, so did she. Her tireless efforts not only saved law enforcement personnel from what could easily have become a bloodbath, she also found the nuclear device which was immediately disarmed by our heroes from the Nuclear Emergency Support Team. She destroyed the men who had murdered eleven innocent visitors and employees in the Freedom Tower."**

**The mayor stepped to his right as a slight figure, wings placed neatly behind her, approached to his left.**

"**Ladies and gentlemen of New York City and the world – I am proud to introduce to you _Lucine – Mal'akha – Manning!"_**

**The crowd burst into applause.**

**Hellboy choked on his popcorn and fell to the floor, ****crushing a Fisher Price busy bee pull toy.**

**Liz stood and cheered.**

"**Oh my," said Abe, walking over to help Red up off the floor.**

**XXXXXX**

**The press conference, of course, was a complete success. The film clip of Lucine snapping her wings, shiny black with blinking eyes, was seen by millions around the world. She said little, which was all to the better because she had never been one to mince words. In today's world of political correctness, it was more than guaranteed that if she had, she would have offended somebody.**

**The next few days were predictably hectic at the Bureau. To nobody's surprise, they were hiring former employees. Both Hellboy and Liz realized that love did not pay the bills and returned to their former jobs, Liz on a part-time basis. **

"**It's what I had to do," Johann Krauss told them. "Nobody else would hire ectoplasm."**

**XXXXX**

"**Did you see the t-shirts being hawked around town?" Red announced as he walked into the Trenton headquarters on the day of his return. "_'NYC – Protected by Angels'_ and _'I heart Lucine'_? Un-fricking-believable!"**

"**Such is life," Johann said, walking with him. "For someone who's considered the most famous person on the planet, she sure keeps a low profile."**

"**Where is she?" Red asked.**

**Johann pointed to the lunchroom.**

**XXXXX**

**It was quiet when Hellboy walked in. **

"**Hey, boss, sir," he grinned, getting Tom Manning's attention by mock-saluting. "Congratulations and all, but doesn't it bother you that your wife is one of those things that came flying out of the Ark of the Covenant when the Nazis opened it up?"**

"**That's more than just a little bit disrespectful, Red," said Abe, who was poking around in the refrigerator trying to find something to eat that wasn't festooned with mold.**

**Manny didn't look up. "I seem to recall that the woman you love periodically bursts into flames," he responded, calmly returning to his New York Times crossword puzzle.**

**Red stared at him. "Uh – yeah," he said with a covering chuckle. He grinned. "Hey, Lucine." **

**The former death angel's nerves had been frayed by weeks of constant publicity and she was in no mood for foolishness. She bared her teeth at him. "Mind your tone with me. You will bring the wrath of Hell upon yourself if you persist in bothering people, Anung un Rama. I have told you this time and time again."**

"**Well, I love you, too," he replied, still grinning.**

"**Speak or leave. What do you want?"**

**The lead-in was perfect, and Red could not resist the temptation. **

"**I checked with all of the Bureau department heads this morning and it was unanimous. The universal choice was Angel Sweetie Lips." **

**She immediately stood and, using an underhand hook, scooped up and flung the coffee pot. It was a magnificent maneuver; one that she could not have duplicated if she had tried for the next hundred years. The pot exploded against Hellboy's chest. ****Unfortunately for him, it contained ten piping hot cups of Breakfast Blend.**

"**Dammit, Lucine!" he cried.**

**She and Tom gave one another the high-five. ****Red frantically wiped at himself, cursing loudly.**

"**It's no more than you deserve," Lucine responded. "Go clean yourself up, you big baby. And I know that it didn't burn you because you're quite used to hellfire. Now get out of here before I bite you."**

**Tom laughed and turned to Abe. "I love that woman," he said.**

"**Who wouldn't?" Abe grinned.**

"**I should sue you, you harpy," Red interjected, only half-joking.**

"**Be my guest but stand in line," Lucine returned. "After all, today is my last day of work here."**

**XXXXX**

**The next morning was a beautiful day in New York City.**

**Tom stood before the bureau knotting his tie. **"**Off to work?" he asked.**

**She smiled and opened up the sliding glass door off their bedroom.**

"**See you for dinner," she said as she climbed upon the little white ornamental chair and launched herself into the sky.**

**XXXXX**

**Thousands looked up and pointed as Lucine the Messenger flew above them toward her destination. Horns honked, people cheered, and even a few tourist and commuter boats sounded their horns. The air felt crisp and clean as Lucine soared upward to the 102nd floor of One World Trade Center.**

**As part of the repair and renovation plan, its owners had actually built an outside door that opened from the observation deck to the gut-wrenching drop directly outside. It had a small platform so that Lucine could land and catch her breath before coming inside.**

"**Here's your coffee, ma'am," said the waiter at the snack bar. Lucine took it with a smile and then walked up the spiral staircase to her new workplace – a glass-enclosed platform, just big enough for a small woman with an eight-foot wingspan.**

**She sat with a satisfied sigh and took a sip as she looked around her unobstructed three hundred and sixty degree view from the top of the Freedom Tower. "Evil does not rest and neither do I," she said to herself.**

**Her new title of Chief of Security suited her just fine.**


	11. Chapter 11: Hellboy in Trouble

**CHAPTER 11: HELLBOY IN TROUBLE **

**Several months had passed since the terrorist attack on the Freedom Tower, and it was business as usual at the Bureau ****for Paranormal Research and Defense****.**

"**Hey, Manny."**

**Dr. Thomas Manning turned around to see Hellboy with a smug look on his face. In truth, Red had happened upon a juicy nugget of gossip and couldn't restrain himself from sharing it. **

"**Yes?" ****Tom answered with a chill. He had never forgotten nor forgiven his agent's not-so-subtle sabotage of his efforts to maintain secrecy within the Bureau, not to mention his humiliation outside of the hidden city of Bethmoora. Dr. Manning – like the fabled elephant – did not forget. If his tone was any icier, his nose would have frozen right on his face****.**

"**Friends of mine at the NYPD have – "**

"**You have friends**** at the NYPD? You should be lucky that they don't toss you in a holding cell for busting up their city****.****"**

"**Come on, buddy; just trying to hav****e a conversation here."**

"**Spill it then. Walk with me. I have a meeting."**

"**Cop friends of mine have told me that no less than forty-eight men have been found dead at various locations in the City, mostly on rooftops and fire escapes. They all died of massive internal injuries and they all died with loaded firearms in their hands."**

"**And?"**

"**The popular rumor**** downtown is that Angel Sweetie Lips is somehow involved."**

**Manning fixed Red with his most intimidating stare. His voice was doom. "Are you accusing my wife of murder?"**

**Hellboy broke into a halfhearted grin. "No way, Manny," he said. **

**Tom continued his relentless stare. "How dare you bring this up to me after what Lucine has done for you. Saving your miserable life; protecting you; dragging your sorry carcass out of Hell -****"**

"**I know, I know. Lucine hasn't killed anybody other than those mooks down at the Freedom Tower, and they had it coming."**

"**Well, perhaps others 'had it coming' as well," Tom replied.**

"**What do you mean, boss?" Red said. "I won't tell anyone."**

"**Damned straight you won't," Tom replied. "You're as bound by the secrecy laws governing this agency as anybody else who works here. Let's just say that – well, are you familiar with the term 'smiting'?"**

"**Smiting? Nope."**

**Tom spoke to him more quietly as the two continued down the hall. "It's written that those who transgress against the will of God are smitten, which means struck down. Follow?"**

**Hellboy's eyes widened. "The dead guys were trying to shoot down Lucine as she flew overhead, weren't they?"**

"**Those are vicious rumors and I deny them -"**

"_**I'm sure you do, ya cagy so-and-so,"**_** Red thought but did not say.**

"– **but an attempt on th****e life of one of Heaven's handmaidens might be looked upon unfavorably by forces on high, if you catch my meaning."**

"**Holy crow," Hellboy whispered. "But **_**forty-eight guys?**_**"**

"**Get this straight, agent. I had nothing to do with it. Lucine had nothing to do with it. Both of us have been interviewed and cleared repeatedly by the NYPD. Are you insane?" Tom stopped dead in his tracks, turning suddenly to face Hellboy****.****"Good Lord, I'm career FBI! If either of us had known anything about these attempts, we would have made arrests at once and pr****osecuted those creeps for attempted murder."**

**Red was silent.**

"**Not to mention the fact that before Lucine came here, all I had to look forward to was my pension****.****"**** He jammed his index finger squarely into Hellboy's chest. "If you do anything to hurt the woman I love in any way, I will end your career right now – today – and you can spend the rest of your sad, sorry life standing at the corner of Broadway and Seventh Avenue holding a tin cup and wearing a cardboard sign that says, "I am a Demon who Pissed off Heaven****.****"**

"**Don't hold back, boss,****" Hellboy returned.**** "Tell me how you really feel!"**

"**Listen, pal. The fact that those creeps dropped dead on their own makes life easier for everyone involved – Lucine, me, the cops," Tom replied. "Done and done. Just have your buddies ask the Coroner's office just exactly how those dirtbags imploded. In human experience, it's pretty much impossible for your guts to turn to guacamole without evidence of any outside trauma." **

**Red nodded****.**

**Manning began to walk down the corridor. "Of course, you'd know all about divine vengeance if you'd studied the Talmud."**

**Hellboy grinned. "Talmud, eh? I didn't know Manning was a Jewish name.****"**

"**It isn't. My old man changed it from Mandelbaum when I was born. Actually, it worked out well for me; I never would have gotten into the FBI Academy as Mandelbaum. Hoover hated Jews." He continued his hurried pace down the hall. ****"****Loose lips sink ships, Agent Hellboy. Don't forget it****.****" **

**He was already late for his meeting.**

**XXXXX**

**Red was taking his break with Abe and Liz in the lunchroom later that afternoon when Lucine Mal'akha Manning swept into the room, all shiny black leather and shinier black boots. She was short of breath, having just flown from the top of One World Trade Center in response to a call from Tom.**

**She saw Hellboy and froze. Her wing-eyes stared and blinked at him as she fixed him with her icy gaze.**

**"Methinks you're dead meat, Red," Abe murmured.**

**"Duck and cover," whispered Liz.**

"**Jeez, stop that, Lucine," Hellboy said**** to her. "That creeps me out."**

**Lucine took off her trench coat and threw it onto a nearby table, causing the three B.P.R.D. employees sitting there to scatter. **

"**It is my job to creep you out, Anung Un Rama," she hissed****, approaching him. "To creep you out is the very essence of my being. I understand that you had a little conversation with my Tom earlier. He was. Very. Upset. You more or less implied that we are guilty of snuffing out the lives of a pack of murderous jackals who managed to turn up dead****.****" **

**Red eyed her with trepidation. He was secretly terrified of the little woman standing before him. She reached over and, grabbing him by the earlobe, dragged him over to a vacant table nearby. He swatted halfheartedly at her hand, knowing that it would do no good. Abe and Liz tittered in spite of themselves; Lucine frequently schooled Hellboy and didn't care who saw it****,**** and this particular class might prove to be an entertaining one.**

"**Ouch, dammit, Lucine!" he growled.**

"**Do not swear oaths at me, Anung un Rama. Sit down before I knock you into the Pine Barrens."**

"**Yes ma'am," Hellboy**** replied, sitting heavily and rubbing his ear.**

"**I want you to clearly understand that I had nothing to do with the deaths you mentioned."**

"**I never said – "**

"_**Silence."**_

**Red's jaw snapped shut. He looked up in time to see both Liz and Abe turn their backs to them so that he would not see their faces. "Hey, what's so funny over there?" he cried.**

"_**You**_**,****"**** Lucine snapped, pointing to her own face. "Right here. Now."**

**Hellboy grimaced. "Okay, I get it. Scary ****Angel of Death ****Lucine is about to rip my heart and liver out because Manny ratted me out****.****"**

"**R****ight you are," she replied, sitting down. ****"****I need to explain a few things to you, ****Anung un Rama****.**** There are certain immutable laws by which Heaven and Hell are governed. For example, I made numerous attempts to liberate you from Hell by storming the gates myself, as angels are occasionally allowed to do. Strict laws govern such interference with the natural order. An ordinary person would have been instantly burned to a cinder."**

**Abe and Liz began to sidle closer to overhear what they expected to be a great story. **

**"Is that right?" Red muttered, interested but not wanting to act like it in front of her.**

"**Indeed. I**** told you that I got you out of Hell twice. Of course – as is the way with souls – no sooner did I snatch you away than they snatched you back. We had some pretty nasty tussles over you. I was practically torn to ribbons on numerous occasions. My superiors threatened to restrain me, feeling that my preoccupation with a demon child was unseemly for an angel."**

**Red was dying to reply but feared for his immortal soul.**

**"One of my unsuccessful attempts happened when you were only a few years old. I had found a hell-gate right in the middle of Siberia, where a mine had collapsed. I made my way all the way in and had actually grabbed onto you with both hands when they hit me a lick with a blast of energy that nearly split my poor head in half. It hurt – well, like the very devil."**

"**That explains ****why your face was cracked when we met you****," Liz mused.**

**Lucine patted her forehead, relieved that it was still there and unmarred. "To me, those scars were badges of shame that I wore from that day on. My self-declared mission was to save you and I considered myself a failure since you were still in Hell and far from the healing light of God. Even angels can be failures, Anung un Rama." **

**"Sorry I was so much trouble," Red said****.**

**"Our fates were linked long ago," Lucine continued, waving a black-gloved hand resignedly. "My struggles for your redemption were very hard on me. It came as a comfort that my efforts were ultimately rewarded. Of course, on that occasion I was not stupid enough to march back into Hell myself. Once burned, twice shy."**

**"Then who did?" Abe asked, too interested to notice that he was interjecting himself into the conversation.**

**"Well, now, my dear friend, that is a very interesting question," Lucine answered, looking up at him with a weary smile. She extended her hand to him and he took it. She looked at Red. **

**"Even though that fool Rasputin conjured you out of Hell himself, it was I who alerted the American forces to your presence.****"**

**Hellboy's eyes widened. "No kidding!"**

"**What Rasputin didn't know is that once you commune with demons, they will pester you forever. I care not; his soul is damned and consigned to the Pit. What I am trying to tell you, Anung un Rama, is that the forces of Heaven ultimately prevailed. My ploy worked, and here you are."**

**"On the side of the angels," Liz added quietly.**

**There was silence in the room for a few moments as Lucine stopped to wipe away some eyeliner which had somehow migrated under her eyes. **

"**Thank you," Hellboy replied. "The Nazis wou****ld have dissected me until there was nothing left. I never would have had this job - " He waved around the room - "my friends -" He nodded at Abe - "and my Liz. Not to mention the kids." He looked into Lucine's golden eyes with some trepidation, earnestly hoping that if she had bothered to help rescue him in the past, she wouldn't kill him now.**

"**Indeed," she hissed, once again all business. "Now answer me this, you stinker. **_**Does all of that sound to you like the behavior of someone who would wantonly slay forty-eight humans?**_**" She slapped him across the top of his head with a crack****.**

"**Ouch! Listen to me Lucine! I didn't mean that - "**

"**If some hellbound maniac chooses to discharge firearms at me, he must face the consequences," she interrupted. "****Heavenly wrath is not unlike a barrier of unclean air or a wash of radiation that a tomb-robber would likely encounter during his misdeeds. In other words, he assumes the risk that instead of killing an angel, he kills himself. Even the demons say that if you curse someone, it can come back on you threefold****.****"**

**Red rubbed his head. It hurt as badly as his earlobe.**

**Lucine suddenly stood, her chair falling backward and hitting the floor behind her with a bang. The rest of the lunchroom hangers-on immediately fled. ****"****In other words, headstrong and wicked fools are damned to Hell, Anung un Rama, and it is none of my doing. So, no more of this loose talk if you please. Now you listen to me,****"**** she hissed, leaning forward. **

"**Listening."**

"**What people generally do when they see someone like me is run the other way or start saying their prayers. I accept that." **

**She reached across an adjacent table and seized a stray apple with her silver spade-shaped fingernails. **

"**There has been exactly one human in all of my earthly experience who did neither. Instead, he loves me. Do you know what someone like him means to someone like me, Anung un Rama?"**

"**Actually, I think I do. I don't know why Liz puts up with me****.****"**

"**Then you will understand me perfectly well when I tell you that I will not stand by and see him upset, not for the world." She fixed Hellboy with yet another glare and lowered her voice. ****"****Upset my Tom again and I will personally pitch you into Hell so fast that your head will spin." She straightened. ****"****And I'm done." **

**Hellboy stood. "I'm really sorry. About everything."**

**She walked around and wrapped her arms around him. He flinched. **

**"I love you, you know," she said quietly, patting his back. "I have since I first laid eyes – all of them – on you when you were a mere babe. Angels do not love in the same way as humans, of course, but care about your welfare I certainly did. Fight the devils for your soul I certainly did. And as long as you need me to defend you, I will be there, as I always have been."**

**Red returned the hug, awkwardly putting his hands around the roots of her black wings. "Love you too, um, ****Lucine****," he said. "Aw hell. Did I really say that? Now don't cry, Liz. I hate all this sloppy stuff. Abe, help me out here. I'm surrounded by sappy women."**

**"You will be surrounded by hellfire if you do not watch yourself," Lucine smirked, giving Red a shove and then picking up her leather coat. "Come to dinner Saturday, all of you. The children too. I am going to try to make Tom's mother's recipe for something called **_**fahdreiteh**_** chicken. I hope it is not terrible."**

**"Yummy," Hellboy returned as Liz punched him on the arm. "Enjoy your apple."**

**"If I do not ram it down your throat first," Lucine the Messenger replied, making her exit with a swirl of leather and the snap of feathered wings embellished with glittering golden eyes.**

"**Never, ever piss off the Mannings," Red muttered to no one in particular, bending down to pick up Lucine's chair****.**** "Oh, man. I would have rather gone a ****hundred**** rounds with Mr. Wink****.****"**

**XXXXXX**

**The three agents spent the next few minutes setting the place to rights. It surprised none of them that Tom Manning walked in.**

"**Oh, kill me now," Hellboy groaned. "****Mann****y****, j****ust take out your service pistol and pop me right through the solar plexus."**

"**I'm warning you, Tom," Liz said. "He's had quite enough for today, so if you have any ****verbal ****punching and slugging to do, save it for later."**

"**Tomorrow might be a better time," Abe said, laying a hand on the chief's shoulder.**

"**No worries, Fishstick," Tom said. "I came to apologize. I tend to – well, lose it when it comes to Lucine. When there's – unkind gossip – I tend to overreact. For that, I'm sorry, Agent Hellboy."**

"**Don't sweat it," Red replied. "I was a bit of a jerk to even mention that rumor to you. I suppose I had it coming.****"**

**Tom wiped his forehead with his handkerchief. He sat down and took a deep breath. ****The others, alarmed, waited for him to speak. He looked terrible.**

"**My Lucine is a funny little thing, you know,****"**** he said. "She has an awful time understanding the ways of our world. I really work hard at looking after her – to make sure it doesn't ****just totally ****overwhelm her. I live in fear that one of these days she's just going to fly off into the sunset and I'll never see her again."**

**Liz put a hand on his shoulder. ****"****Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," she said. "She adores you. She wouldn't leave you ****in ten million years****. Is she still here, or did she head back to the Freedom Tower?" **

**Tom sighed again. "No, she's still here. She****'****s in my office right now, sitting in the closet.****"**

"**What?" ****cried**** Hellboy. "She hasn't done that since her first week at the Bureau."**

"**Whatever for?" Abe asked, alarmed. "It's sort of a regression, isn't it?"  
**

"**It's quiet and dark in there, and she feels safe. Sort of like ****her**** temple in Bethmoora. She was down there a long, long time, you know, and no one bothered her much.****"**

**Tom shrugged. **

"**New York is different. It is bright, it is frantic, and of course when you can see into everybody's souls it can be far more than you can tolerate. When it is all too much, she just heads for the nearest closet. She just sits in there among the galoshes and overcoats until she calms down."**

"**Holy crow, Manny****,****"**** Red remarked. **

"**Tom, when she gets like that, please call me," Liz said. "I would be so happy to cheer her up. We all love her, you know.****"**

"**As would I," Abe said quietly. "****Lucine is very good to me****."**

**Tom's shoulders sagged. ****"****I wish it was that easy. ****Lucine's not like us. Not like us at all. It ****staggers**** my mind that she saw the early days of the human race; that she saw the retreat of the ****glaciers**** during the last Ice Age. Unfortunately, she's also witnessed the ****descent of the ****human race ****into commotion, squalor, corruption and self-centeredness – you should have seen her when she learned about Nine-Eleven. She just lost it. ****I'm sorry I told her but it turned out to be possibly the best decision I ever made, considering what happened."**

"**She was a hero that day, Tom," Liz said.**

"**She paid one hell of a price for it later," Tom said. "Hell of a price. ****And it was because of me that she paid it."**

"**What happened, Tom?" Abe asked, worried.**

**Remember th****e**** gala they held at Lincoln Center for the families of those who died? And Lucine was the guest of honor?"**

"**Yeah, although my invite must have gotten lost in the mail," Red remarked. ****Liz ****cuffed**** him.**

**Tom sighed again. ****"Chanel loaned her this spangly silver number from their spring-summer **_**haute couture**_** show. It was actually redesigned to accommodate her wings. She looked gorgeous. Anyway, at about the time the limo was supposed to pick us up, into the coat closet ****went ****Lucine, ****Chanel **_**haute couture**_** and all. ****I could not for the life of me ****coax**** her out."**

"**I wish you'd called me," Liz sighed.**

"**I should have, as it happened. I acted like an ass. The governor called to find out where we were. ****Man, was he pissed. ****I just ****reached in, ****dragged her out, and carried her out to the limo. She was so terrified of the mobs of people that were going to be staring at her ****all night ****that she mashed her poor face into my tux coat and howled."**

"**What did you do?" said Abe, ****the**** pain evident on his face.**

"**I grabbed my phone and had them cancel the on-stage presentation and speech. I think she would have died from fear if I'd lugged her up there****."**

"**Here, have a beer," said Hellboy, opening his backpack and handing the old man a can. "What a fricking horror show."**

**Tom shuddered and took a long swig. It wasn't cold but it was exactly what he needed. "We sat in ****a**** private box up high. I managed to wave for the both of us, so that was all right. I called in a lot of favors, having the photographers deep-six the pictures of us coming in. I told them she wasn't feeling well." **

**He blinked hard. **

"**I have yet to forgive myself, you understand. I had no idea that any creature of any kind could feel that level of fear. But that's my poor Lucine. ****The terrorist incident made her worse, you see. A whole lot worse." ****The old man dropped his head into his hands. "Oh well. Tell the truth and shame the devil. And the truth is that s****he'd probably be better off sitting in that dirty ****cave**** in Bethmoora than being ****here in this craphole of a city ****with me."**

"**Oh no, Tom," Liz said, near tears. "You can't imagine how much she loves you. Please believe me."**

"**Liz can tell you what a pain I can be," Red shrugged. "We all have our moments, boss. Some better than others."**

**Tom looked up at him. "Oh, and you! ****Anung un Rama! You're all I hear about! ****God yes! You're her baby, so to speak! ****The thought of you becoming the King of Hell and destroying Earth consumes her. It has for years. ****I know she lit into you today. She was in my office crying about it. ****I ****just hope that you can ****understand ****that this is why she****'****s so hard on you."**

**Hellboy ****nodded**** and ****dug in the backpack to fetch**** Abe and himself ****a ****couple of cans of beer****. ****"****Like I said when she saved eight million New Yorkers ****a while back**** – she's a good gal."**

"**She is," Tom said, standing up. "She is indeed. God, this is such a weird place. We're surrounded by weird here. And we're all weird too, I suppose. But one of the advantages of being weird is that we understand each other a lot better than ordinary folk."**

"**True dat," Red echoed, slapping Manning a great whack between the shoulder blades.**

"**Ouch, that actually hurt, Agent Hellboy. Understanding one another - like this - ****is a blessing, you know. I'm grateful for it. ****D****on't forget that you're an asset here. And you, Liz. Fishstick too. Hell, what would I do without you ****weird people****?" **

"**Talk, talk, talk," Red declared, heading for the corridor. "Let's go get Angel Sweetie Lips out of the broom closet.****"**


	12. Chapter 12: Sitting in the Closet

**CHAPTER 12: SITTING IN THE CLOSET**

**Lucine had sat in the closet for about an hour before she began to get sleepy. It was nice here, she thought; she particularly liked the smell of the bottle of Pine-Sol that some janitor had left in a scrub bucket. She also liked the smell of Tom emanating from several suits and overcoats. During her occasional bouts of terror the smell of him and the feel of him and the kindness that poured from his heart were the only things that kept her grounded and sane.**

**When the panic had overtaken her this day – shortly after she had literally been a holy terror to Hellboy – she had been fortunate to be near a place where she knew she would find a momentary refuge.**

**The closet in Tom's office was similar to her job site. The top of North America's tallest building was remote and devoid of people. There, she sat above the highest point in the city, scanning the skies for trouble as efficiently as any high-tech radar but with the added ability to suss out evil.**

**The prospect of near total isolation had been precisely why she took the One World Trade Center job. After the terrorist attack, she was not even sure that she could continue working at the B.P.R.D. – too many people, too many voices and announcements and alarms and movement and confusion. If an angel could be analogized to a computer, these things overloaded her circuits. It was all too much; a great deal too much.**

**Even coming here today at Tom's request had been frightening. She was becoming familiar with what mistakes were; as an angel, she simply did what God commanded. It had been a mistake to come here today, first harassing and intimidating Anung un Rama more than she should have, and then crawling into Tom's closet like a fool. It had been a mistake to go to that gala, where everyone had come to greet her. Instead, she had insulted them with her inattention and avoided them due to her unreasoning fear. What a failure she was! Her whole body ached.**

**The Chanel people had been furious with her. She had been obligated to showcase their creation and instead it had appeared, balled up and ratty, only in the few surviving pictures Tom had neglected to buy. A couple of tabloids ran them; the reader could see a worried Tom Manning with a weeping woman curled up in his lap like a baby, her great wings blocking the view of the guests to their right.**

**_What a feast for the eyes, _Lucine thought.**

**Chanel had implied that they would be filing suit for breach of contract and then Tom had told them that he would fight it with his dying breath and then Lucine had really gummed things up by stating that she would personally drop the Chanel representative into the deepest cesspits of Hell.**

**She had even ruined Tom's new tux by embedding it with a faceful of carefully-applied Dior makeup and tears.**

**It had not gone well. _What a fricking horror show, _as Hellboy had said.**

**She wrapped her wings tightly around herself in the dark, seeking comfort. She was a far cry from the being she once was. Her higher-ups in heaven had given her a choice after the terrorists had been delivered to judgment – become the angel you were or continue being part human. How could she leave Tom? Her choice had been obvious and she had made it instantly. ****But being human was far more work than she had reckoned. **

_**How to you talk to people without terrifying them? How to know when to cross the street? How to brush your teeth? How to have a friend when you had never had one? How to keep from being an embarrassment and a burden to the human who had been kind enough to take you in and love you?**_

**For a little while she desperately wished she was back in her temple in Bethmoora, safe under the ground, where no one but Heaven and one old goblin even knew she was there.**

**She closed her eyes. She just wanted to rest for a bit, then go back out and keep on slugging, a little fish who was as out of water as surely as Abe Sapien.**

**God bless Tom for giving her this safe haven, without question and without shaming. Tom knew what it was like to be left out of people's lives; that was one of the reasons they suited one another so nicely. Tom and Lucine and Abe and Liz and Anung un Rama and probably Johann too – rejects all, with arrested emotional development or traumas or disabilities – were highly efficient and unique in their jobs. Conversely, they were all terrible at human relationships for the same reasons. That is probably why they all, to some extent, stayed away from the world at large and stayed together.**

**That was the essence of the B.P.R.D. It made perfect sense when you thought about it.**

**Killing those terrorists and snatching their souls had been work – wild work – enough. If she had been truly human, Lucine would have known about post-traumatic stress disorder and that people who faced terrible situations often suffered from it. Emotional difficulties were unknown to angels because they had no emotions to worry about. That is why being an Angel of Death never bothered her. Lucine had just been one other entity within the vast panoply of Heaven and Hell doing her job, year after year and millennium after millennium. Now, however, she was just a baby and a mess. ****A few tears ran down her face as her thoughts wandered among the wash buckets and spare wingtips. **

**_Tom had been looking for these, the brown ones. Well, here they are!_**

**How could Tom stand her? How could anyone stand her? Anung un Rama must surely hate her by now. Her wing-eyes were far-seeing and they had seen into the lunchroom and she had seen Tom at the point of tears telling the others that his wife was upstairs on the floor of his closet. If those same eyes had been equipped with tear ducts, Lucine would have soaked the carpet with burning and shameful tears.**

**Her heart ached in an unfamiliar and painful way. For the first time, Lucine was feeling remorse and self-loathing and she had no idea what to do about it.**

**Blowing her nose on a tissue in her coat pocket, Lucine swept away the shoes and umbrellas and made a little place for herself to lie down on the floor. If she lay on her chest, there would be enough room for her wings. She wadded up her beautiful leather coat, worrying about ruining it – really now, weren't her Bethmooran rags infinitely more practical? – and put it under her head.**

**Closing her eyes, she fell asleep.**

**XXXXXX**

**"Hello, dear one," Queen Hela Lokisdottir whispered to the sleeping woman.**

**"Now I understand, Mother Hel – I understand why you and Ullr refused to have any part of the publicity surrounding the terrorist attack! You wouldn't even permit me to mention your names! It is madness and I tried to do it but made a mess of it. All those people with all those flashing machines and the noise and questions turned my heart into a fluttering bird!"**

**"Sometimes it is best to be quiet and let the world spin on without you," Hela replied. "My, these wings are gorgeous! Even the Valkyries cannot hold a candle to them!"**

**"I should have let it spin," Lucine said. "I hate myself for so many reasons that I cannot even list them for you."**

**"You hate yourself for no good reason that I can see, my dear. You saved so many lives! And if you don't like the publicity, then do as I do and go to some nice quiet place with the man you love and let this Earth revolve. Do you know what I mean?"**

**"I have disappointed so many, including my Tom. If I did what was best for him, I would leave and not burden him further with my care."**

**"Nonsense. Your friend the demon and his lady told you that he fell apart when you were in Heaven. Tom without you is the same sad and lonely man that he was before you came to this city. He needs you as much as you need him, and lying on the floor crying 'woe is me!' is not going to help the situation any."**

**Lucine covered her face in shame.**

**"Now stop that, young lady!"**

**At this, Lucine couldn't help but smile. "I am an ancient soul! Older than you, I think."**

**"But you are in a young form, and you know little about this world which makes you just a bit like a child. Maybe a teenager. People tend to be silly when they are that age, and they definitely make a lot of mistakes," Hela told her, stroking her head. "And I'll tell you something else. No one throws teenagers away, and teenagers do not go off to live underground – or on top of a skyscraper – when they do make mistakes. Making mistakes is just part of this human life you chose. So rather than beating yourself over the head – which I do not advise – I suggest that you wake up, kiss your husband, greet your friends, and go out for sushi."**

**Lucine laughed. "I never thought the Norse goddess of death knew what sushi was!"**

**Hela smiled. "Remember that Ullr and I have been enjoying this world since Ragnarok, and I have seen a good thousand years of delightful things on this Earth to cheer us and make our long lives worth living. Of course we know what fish is; the Vikings were seagoing people! And what a delightful way to eat it! ****And of course you're afraid of things, you ninny," Hela said, poking her in the back right in between her wings.**

**"Ouch!"**

**"Pay attention!"**

**"Stop poking me!"**

**"Listen to me then. I survived my mother's death – the forced separation of me from my brothers – being consigned to the death lands when I didn't want to – and plenty more besides. Look what you accomplished even though you were being terrorized. You know, Ullr nearly went through the glass to kill those men who were hitting you with the ends of their weapons! Also remember that you saved the lives of the people on that plane -"**

**"No, Mother Hel – it was you who did that."**

**"I did it at your behest. Without you, I wouldn't have known about it and that plane would have gone into that building. Now, stop interrupting me. You also saved all those police officers and bystanders and everyone in the entire New York metropolitan area. You particularly saved that little family you love; the demon's family. You were the only one who saw that hideous bomb and because of you they got to it in time."**

**"Ullr did that – "**

**"But it was your wing-eyes that saw it and told the others! What did I tell you about interrupting me? Your angel side did her duty and did it to perfection; you slew the murderers of innocents and carried their souls to justice. But your human side was deeply frightened by everything you saw and did. The lives of millions were in your two little hands and you knew it and did everything that was necessary in spite of it. Sometimes those things leave wounds as deep as those inflicted upon you by the demon horde."**

**Hela sighed deeply.**

**"My little Lucine Mal'akha, you were in pieces then. And you're in pieces now. Please let me heal you once again."**

**Lucine nodded.**

**Hela lay her right hand on Lucine's head and began to pulse her full of healing energy. "Look, darling angel friend. Don't be ashamed that you cried and clung to Tom at that big celebration. I don't think a single person there blamed you for it; what you did for them would have put any of them over the edge a thousand times over. You were quite wise to cling to the one person who you knew could help you through it. This earthly life we chose is often full of fear and loss. However, it has benefits that your life as an angel did not have."**

**Lucine blinked at her friend, newly-found strength and confidence filling her spare frame.**

**Hela smiled and smoothed her cheek. "Excitement! Anticipation! Love! Parties! Adventures! Sex! Jewelry! Delicious things to eat and drink! Sunshine! Swimming! Shopping! Oh, my dear! You need to go with Tom and visit his parents' graves in Somerville; it is right next to Boston. A lovely city. Then you need to go a little bit north to New Hampshire and go skiing – "**

**"With these?" Lucine cried, indicating her wings.**

**"Well, maybe you're right. You can at least see the mountains. Then go west to the desert. Then go to a beach in Southern California and bake in the sun. You're alive, Lucine the Messenger! This is your reward for being a dutiful servant of Heaven and for saving so many mortal lives." Hela kissed her forehead. "So get off your ass and brush your hair and _get out of this closet!"_**

**Lucine woke up with a start.**

**"And another thing, dear angel friend," Hela said, her voice fading from Lucine's mind like a searchlight turning away from her. "To your Hell with that Chanel dress!"**

**Tom and his compatriots were surprised to hear laughter coming from his office closet. He opened it and found Lucine standing, wiping her eyes and smiling.**

**"Are you all right, sweetheart?" Tom inquired hesitantly, his face full of pain and worry.**

**"I found your brown wingtips," she replied. "Who's hungry for sushi?"**


	13. Chapter 13: One

**CHAPTER 13: ONE **

"_**One **_

_**Singular sensation  
Every little step she takes.  
One thrilling combination  
Every move that she makes.  
One smile and suddenly nobody else will do;  
You know you'll never be lonely with you know who.  
One moment in her presence  
And you can forget the rest.  
For the girl is second best  
To none,  
Son.  
Ooooh! Sigh! Give her your attention.  
Do...I...really have to mention?  
She's the...  
One!"**_

**\- Lyrics from "A Chorus Line" Broadway musical, 1975**

**The meal was concluding when Lucine finally spoke about her revelations in the closet.**

"**Mother Hel convinced me that my life here is worth living without fear or self-pity," she said, well into her second cappuccino. "And I realized that I really did not want to go back to my temple in Bethmoora. In fact, I became grateful that I would not have to see the place again."**

"**Why?" asked Abe.**

**She looked at him. "Because what I was doing all those years down there was simply hiding."**

**"I thought you were waiting for us," said Liz.**

"**I was," Lucine replied, "but I was also hiding from the denizens of Hell. I had been marked for death a long time ago, Anung un Rama. Bethmoora was a safe place and I hardly ever left it."**

**"Let – me – guess. You were marked because you were protecting me."**

**L****ucine laughed. "It was more than that. When we first met, I held you in my arms for a short time. When I did, I gave you a little of Heaven's grace. That ruined Hell's plans for you." She took a sip of coffee. "It gave you a conscience, among other things, ****a****nd they hated me for it. Shortly ****after I beheld you for the first time****, I learned that I was being hunted."**

**L****ucine closed her eyes and a flood of memories came back to her, which she paraphrased for her guests. ****She frequently went into trances or fell into memories so vivid ****that ****she felt as if she was reliving them. Her companions sat patiently by, used ****as they all were ****to their ****little winged**** friend's odd ways, and listened.**

**XXXXXX**

"_**They're coming back, old friend!" shrieked the goblin who had been **__**responsible for the creation of the Golden Army. "Can you hear 'em? Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! They're coming this way! To slay us both, they will! **__**Me for casting 'em off, and you for **__**tryin' to rid the Earth of 'em**__**!**__**"**_

_**Lucine – then commonly known as the **_**ha-mashchit**_** or **__**D**__**estroyer to those who knew of her existence, **__**although Heaven had given her no name**__** – stood and hissed, **__**snapping out her great eyed wings **__**and sending a blast of air **__**that blew **__**a whirlwind **__**of sand **__**across the expanse of her temple**__**. **__**She **__**was confident in her **__**power to thwart an attack, but feared that it would drain her **__**last **__**reserves of strength. It had taken a great deal of it to send the Golden Army into the volcano **__**Eyjafjallajokull. **__**As things appeared now, s**__**he might as well have saved herself the trouble.**_

"_**Didn't ye toss 'em into that big fire mountain?" the goblin cried, moving quickly so that he was ****hidden**** behind ****her tattered gown****.**_

"_**I did," Lucine replied. "But you see that they have remade themselves once again. ****It was you that gave them that ability, and now they have come back to tear you apart.****"**_

"_**No! Dear friend, save me!"**_

"_**Very well. Now still yourself!"**_

_**Both froze, silent, as the boom of thousands of tramping feet wheezed and ground and shrieked ****as ****gear ****ground ****against gear ****in their mechanical fury past Lucine's temple ****on their way back ****to ****their ****resting place****. ****Lucine ****dreamily**** chanted to herself in a mix****ture**** of ancient Hebrew and Enochian, warding the place against intrusion by the mechanical ****Golmim.**** Dust rained down from the ceiling and several large chunks of rock fell to the floor, blowing out little craters in what sand remained there. ****Several of the smaller soul-jars fell to the floor and broke open.**_

"_**Ah!" Lucine ****whispered****, moving toward them with ****a degree of ****affection unusual in a death angel. "Cressoidus the shoemaker, hush now. Murtree, the butcher's daughter, quiet. ****Danger is nearby and you must be silent! ****Here, I have another home for you." With the pointing of her crooked finger to guide their way, both ****souls ****flew across the vast room and slid into ****two vacant**** soul-jars, where they ****glowed ****with renewed happiness**** in their new ****homes****.**_

"_**Nuada must be going crazy with joy to see them moving," the goblin **__**whispered**__**. "**__**Scurvy little devil, him. **__**They only move without the **__**C**__**rown to return to their home. I created them that way, damn my soul!"**_

_**Lucine had no eyes in her face and therefore could not roll them in sarcasm. "It is all your doing," she hissed. "I don't know why I let you visit me. I should send your soul to ****Sheol."**_

"_**No, no, no!" the goblin ****whispered frantically****, clomping toward her as close as he dared in his little cart, the goat-bell clanging wildly. "You know that I have regretted it – all of it – since the day they were finished and started sucking the life out of the ****people**** of Bethmoora! It's like they took on a life of their own. Please believe me, old friend!"**_

_**Lucine shook her head, waving away some sand on the symbols around her feet. It revealed a humped golden figure that radiated doom.**_

"_**If it had not been you, it would have just been another," the **_**ha-mashchit**_** replied. **__**"It is written here in the eternal charts." Suddenly, her head snapped up and she rounded to face the temple entrance. "****It is N****uada," she said. "****H****ide yourself."**_

_**Within seconds the goblin clopped his way over to the largest soul-jar he could find and ****sheltered himself, as getting caught in a crossfire between an elven prince and a death angel would be hazardous to his health****. **_

_**Lucine strengthened her resolve.**_

_**Prince Nuada, his white face handsome but bearing the arrogant sneer that quite ruined his beauty, strode in as the ruler of all he fancied himself to be. He swept low in a sarcastic bow. "Old ****A****ngel ****dear****, how are you? Did you ****happen to ****hear my army making its way back to my kingdom, ****or have you grown too deaf to notice****?"**_

_**Lucine hissed ****at**** this white-haired upstart. "Do not speak to me. Damned you are for ruining the life of your sister and for many other crimes besides. ****It is not your army and if it ****will become so, it ****will only be ****so ****for mere moments. ****You take your life into your hands by entering this room, ****Nuada****. Beware!"**_

_**Nuada laughed ****loudly****, striding forward. ****With a twitch of her shrouded head, ****Lucine ****sent him flying**** across the room****. ****He ****smashed**** against a large soul-jar with a bang and a clatter. ****T****he soul inside fluttered in fear.**_

"_**Soothe yourself, Agnon the street-sweeper," Lucine hissed. "All is well."**_

_**It took ****Nuada**** a few moments to right himself ****and ****to ****sweep the sand from his elaborate garments****. **_"_**Still playing games, I see. Well, I can play a few myself. I have been traveling ****the worlds over****, you see, and I came upon ****a fine group of demons****. Ugly things they were but not as ugly as you, Angel darling."**_

_**She hissed, ****her wing-eyes glittering****.**_

"_**They said they were looking for a demon named Anung un Rama and for his angel guardian known as the **_**ha-mashchit.**_** At first, I played dumb to see what advantage it might bring to me to reveal what I knew."**_

_**Lucine snapped her black wings, their eyes ****locked**** on Nuada****. **_

"_**I knew nothing about this Anung un Rama, of course, but about you I kn****o****w plenty. What would it be worth, I wonder, for me to tell them that the angel they s****eek**** is hiding in my very land and has been for ages upon ages? ****Could the powers of Hell reanimate the Golden Army even without the Crown?" ****Nuada strode forward. **__**This time, Lucine did not knock him back, ****her dusty old heart full of anxiety****.**_

"_**And so, old girl, here are my terms to you."**_

"_**Terms be damned, as ****is your tattered soul****," she hissed in return.**_

"_**Don't be so hasty, dearest ****Angel ****darling, but hear me out." He laughed ****again****, his teeth glittering in the light of the soul-jars. "Where is the other piece of my crown?" ****He extended his spear to its fullest, nearly touching Lucine's breastplate.**_

"_**It is not your ****C****rown, you craven little wretch. And your spear threatens me not. Even if I knew, I would never tell you."**_

"_**Well then, if you will not help me, then I will not help you." Nuada ****growled****. "Touch the Golden Army one more time – remove them, apparat****e**** them, ****disturb**** them in any way, and I will contact the King of Hell and give you up. They have some delightful plans for you. As you know, Hell specializes in torture and they delight in getting their hands on resident****s**** of Heaven. ****I happen to know**** what a rickety old pile of rag and bone you have become****; th****ey should be able to tear you to pieces in no time. With any luck, I will be there to join them ****in poking out those nasty eyes of yours****...****one...by...one...****" **_

_**Still grinning, ****Nuada**** poked ****the angel's breastplate**** with the tip of his spear.**_

_**With a roar, Lucine flung out her arms and sent the Prince of Bethmoora flying out of the entrance of the temple. She listened as he fell with a crash ****onto**** the debris on the ground and then sent the gate to her domain slamming shut, snapping his mystical spear in half.**_

_**"****See my face**** once more, you ****cowardly**** little husk,****" she hissed. "****and you will surely die."**_

**XXXXXX**

**T****om, Liz, Abe, and Red all stared at Lucine, transfixed. ****Three of them had actually been to her domain and Tom had viewed Johann's tape many times. ****All had pictured the scene she had described down to its smallest detail.**

"**Of course, you know the rest," ****Lucine continued****. "****As it happened, ****Nuada wasn't the one to give me up. You ****did, Anung un Rama****, and you did not mean to do it. The devils were swift to do their worst ****to me**** shortly after you shut down the Golden Army."**

"**That ****jumping**** little creep was worse that I thought," Hellboy murmured. **

"**Nuada**** nearly killed you," Liz said ****to Red****, putting her hand on his arm ****in comfort****. **

"**Liz, ****remember ****it was you who**** saved ****Anung un Rama**** that day, not me," Lucine ****said quietly****.**

**Liz looked at her ****odd little ****friend. "****Yes, I remember. You told me that I would suffer more than anyone, and yet you spared me that fate when you stopped the terrorist attack. ****At the time, though, I couldn't understand ****why you didn't withdraw Nuada's blade yourself.****"**

**Lucine shrugged. "Angels are rarely permitted to interfere in the life decisions of their charges," she said. "****What we do is guard and guide. ****At that crossroad, it was your turn."**

"**Where did he go, Lucine? ****Nuada, I mean,****" Abe asked. ****His heart still ached for his lost Nuala ****as**** he was keenly aware of the damage her brother had done to her. ****For that reason, Abe kept a small hot coal of hatred burning in his heart for Nuada****. ****How could he help ****it****?**

**Lucine reached out and took Abe's hand. "After his greed and lust for power resulted in his sister's death, I snatched his soul and took it to judgment. Hers too, of course. She was taken to the heavenly realm enjoyed by her parents. His, I cast into the pit." Lucine gave a smile that even chilled Tom.**

"**Good riddance," Red said, ****grabbing the last piece of avocado sushi****. "I'm just sorry I ****couldn't have changed it all."**

**Lucine sh****rugged****. "Her days were numbered, as she and her brother were destined to be born and to die on the same day. ****She knew she had to stop him at that moment. ****There was nothing you could have done." Lucine ****squeezed Abe's hand****. "I spoke with her while I was ****in Heaven****, you know****; after the Freedom Tower attack****. She watches you all the time with love and awaits the day – a long time from now – when you will be reunited. Believe me, my friend, and know that what I speak is true."**

**Abe dropped his head. Liz gave his shoulder a squeeze. **

**Lucine continued. ****"****It would make her unhappy, however, if you were to remain alone for the rest of your life."**

**A****be shrugged. "I don't think there's anyone out there for me," he replied.**

"**Don't be so sure. Sometimes, ****those**** who come into our lives do so to save us, although neither knows it. For example, ****I have always been your salvation, Anung Un Rama. When you and Liz**** returned to speak with me a second time, ****you**** and ****Mother Hel found me in my greatest need ****and became my salvation.****" ****Lucine**** smiled. "And now," she reached for Tom's hand, "****Liz is your s****alvation**** and ****Tom**** is ****m****ine****. ****See how nicely it all works?****"**

**R****ed laughed. "****Man. ****We'd better pay the bill and get out of here before Mann****y**** begins boo-hooing over there.****" ****He stood up and stretched. "We ****all know how sappy he gets when it comes to ****you, ****Lucine."**

"**Will you stop it?" Liz chided, slapping his arm.**

"**Spoken like a truly ****tender soul****," Abe said ****with a chuckle****. ****"****Red, all the sensitivity training the Bureau had to offer you did nothing to soften you****r rough edges****."**

"**Yeah, well, thank God for that," Hellboy laughed, turning to Tom and Lucine. "Thanks for the great meal, and you know I'm just kidding. If I couldn't torment Manning here, I'd probably drop dead."**

"**And more's the better for the B.P.R.D.," Tom returned. "And you're welcome."**

**Lucine laughed. "I ought to knock your heads together, ****but I love you both****. Here's a thought I'd like to leave with you before we go. I want to let everyone know that I have**** rejoin****ed**** your world again, ****but**** don't know how to do it."**

**Abe looked at Liz and Liz looked at him.**

"**_YouTube," _they both said.**

**Tom groaned and reached for the bill.**

**XXXXXXX**

"**Um – hello."**

**The camera was filming and Lucine sat nervously at her kitchen table, hands folded before her, their knuckles white. A chipped white china cup with "FBI" emblazoned on it stood nearby, full of hazelnut cream coffee.**

"**My name is Lucine Mal'akha Manning. I was the one at the World Trade Center when it was attacked."**

**Silence.**

_**(Tom's voice-over: "Go ahead; it's okay…")**_

"**I – just wanted to say hello to you all. I have not been myself since the attack and I did not act very well towards some of you in the city. I want to apologize to the people at the fund-raising – what is it called?"**

_**(Tom's voice-over: "Gala, sweetheart.")**_

"**Um – gala. I am sorry. You were so kind to have invited me. Years ago, and you can take it from me, no one in their right senses would have invited me anywhere. I took away the souls of dead persons and if someone saw me coming, well, all they could think of was to get as far away from me as they could. But I do not do that any more so you don't have to worry. When someone comes for you after you die, it will not be me."**

_**(Tom laughs off screen; he can't help it)**_

"**Anyway, I did not talk to anyone at the beautiful party. I didn't even look up and say hello to any of you. I – apologize." **

_**(She coughs into her fist)**_

"**You don't know anything about me because it is some sort of security issue but I want to tell you how I got here. All right."**

_**(Lucine blinks and takes a deep breath)**_

"**I was waiting for someone for a long time. I mean a very, very long time; longer than many humans and their great-great-great-grandchildren are alive. I waited in a place where I saw hardly anyone and finally the person came. Demons followed him, however, and they wanted to kill me because I protected the person who finally came."**

_**(Lucine puts her hands over her face for a few seconds) **_

"**They set me on fire and tore me to pieces. I was still alive, and a dear friend came and put me back together. I look very different than I used to, and from what my friends told me that is a good thing as I was very old and weak. Now I am neither. The being you know as Hellboy brought me here to New York and I joined the B.P.R.D. as a special agent. I had friends for the first time and – "**

_**(the screen goes blank, and then comes back on after a few seconds. Tom sticks his head into the picture and waves)**_

"**Mr. Lucine here. Kicked out the plug. Sorry."**

_**(Lucine laughs, her tension finally broken)**_

"**I began doing tasks for the B.P.R.D. which were very successful. I also sent a great many demons back to Hell in the process, which I always enjoy. There are a lot of them lurking around New York. And New Jersey too. Anyway, my wings grew back and I flew all over the place, which was a problem. My best friend Tom then told me about Nine-Eleven, which turned out to be a very good thing."**

_**(Lucine takes a drink of coffee)**_

"**I love coffee. This kind is really wonderful. Anyway, I found out what was going to happen a few months ago at the World Trade Center through visions in my head, and my friends and I did what we could to stop it. My friends do not want me to mention them, but I want you people to know that I could not have shut down that attack without them. I took the souls of the evildoers for judgment – and then I came back. So, here I am again."**

_**(Lucine takes another drink of coffee)**_

"**I am also sorry to the Chanel people. I was supposed to wear their beautiful dress like one of those models or Hollywood stars but instead I think I ruined it. Some of the sparkling bits fell off. I did not mean to do it."**

**_(Lucine looks down at herself. She is wearing a short-sleeved black sweater over a __long-sleeved j__ewel toned jersey with cobalt blue and orchid-colored flowers on it. There are sequins all around the silhouette of the jersey)_**

"**I got this at Macy's. I like Macy's. There is a woman upstairs there who makes cuts and stitches so I can wear the clothes. Tom helps me with the snaps in back. This looks nice. It has fewer sparkly bits to fall off."**

_**(Tom's voice-over: "Tell them about One World Trade Center!")**_

"**Oh! All right! I want to tell you about my new job. I sit on top of the Freedom Tower and look all around for trouble. If someone is planning to hurt people, I will know about it. And then I use the hand machine – "**

_**(Tom's voice-over: "Cellphone, sweetheart.")**_

"**Um, cellphone, to call law enforcement. So, you will be protected, you see."**

_**(Lucine looks off screen)**_

"**Anyway, my Tom is going to upload this to YouTube for me, even though he says he hates it – "**

_**(an off screen snort of laughter from Tom)**_

"– **and I hope it will be all right. I love New York and I thank you for my new home and when you see me fly over, you can wave at me if you want and I will see you. Anyway, goodbye."**

_**(screen goes blank)**_

**_(picture comes back on. Lucine is standing behind her kitchen table__)_**

**_(__Tom's voice-over: "Come on, do it!")_**

"**No. It is silly. No one wants to see it."**

_**(Tom's voice-over: "Lucine, everyone wants to see it. Do it! I won't turn this thing off until you do!")**_

_**(Lucine rolls her eyes and puts her hands on her hips, and then snaps out her wings. All of her wing-eyes blink at the audience. Tom's applause is heard off camera)**_

_**(screen goes blank)**_

_**XXXXX**_

**It was a surprise to everyone that what Tom posted as the "Angel Video" received so many hits within the first few minutes that the site crashed. Within twenty-four hours, the number of hits had broken all previous YouTube records. **

**There were thousands of comments, many of which were small letters of thanks and personal recollections of that terrible day. The few crackpot and troll posts that appeared were quickly deleted as Tom feared that Lucine would see them and take steps to consign their authors to eternal torment.**

**Of course, the video was featured on every daily and morning news program and was the top story on the national evening news. Death Angels by nature are always detestable and unwelcome, so it came as an utter shock to Lucine that people actually liked the look and sound of her. Offers for television and personal appearances began to pour in, all of which she rejected. **

**Although much of her fright had left thanks to Hela's ministrations, she still had a healthy desire for self-preservation. The Internet and sensationalist papers were full of the sad stories of public figures who had self-immolated on the altar of greed and ego. The former death angel had no desire to parade down a runway or appear at a movie premiere.**

**Every Macy's store in the country had a run on Lucine's sweater and jersey outfit. An entire factory in China hummed with activity to make up for the shortfall. The president of Macy's contacted Lucine to thank her for her business and kind words, and gave her a lifetime supply of whatever it was that Macy's sold that she might want. She immediately ordered two pillow top king-size mattresses to put together in order to accommodate her wingspan (it had been rather painful to suspend her wings over the side of their double bed), but she later discovered that their bedroom was not large enough to house both of them. Tearfully, she had to send one back.**

**Tom had his own brainstorm, contacting the promoters of the gala and suggesting that a version of Lucine's jersey featuring a small pair of black crystal angel wings on the right shoulder be sold to benefit those who lost their loved ones in the Freedom Tower attack. Of course, the family of Bernard Chouet – the man killed by the hijackers – would also benefit from the sale of what came to be marketed as Lucine Shirts ™. Millions were sold within two months of the angel's YouTube debut. **

**American coffee consumption spiked 14 per cent.**

**XXXXX**

**Lucine had been working late and Tom was a little concerned.**

**Of course, her safety was not an issue. The NYPD actually announced that any attempt on Lucine's life as she flew above the city would be dealt with most harshly, and not by them. Within the next few weeks, an additional sixty-seven men dropped dead because they chose to ignore it and took pot-shots at her. After all, it was the sting of sin and the price of vice and there was nothing the Mannings could do about it. Free will is free will, after all.**

**Dr. Thomas Manning had never been a rich man because he had spent his life as a law enforcement officer and not a very highly-paid one at that. As a consequence, he had spent a great deal of his life worrying about money. Lucine – who never had to concern herself with dollars and cents – watched with trepidation each time he paid bills or received investment reports.**

"**I do not like those yellow envelopes he gets in the mail," Lucine had informed Liz gravely. "I wish you could burn them up with your fingers."**

**She worried about Tom's ulcer and his reflux and his high blood pressure and one gloomy Sunday afternoon she got her own brainstorm. Cheered, she arranged a meeting with the higher-ups at the Freedom Tower the following afternoon and met with them throughout the week. **

**XXXXXXX**

**This made Lucine late for dinner at the Manning household several nights in a row. **

**It wasn't the loss of her cooking that made Tom's heart heavy (although her _fahdreiteh_ chicken dish had been a hit); what he so keenly missed was her companionship after a hard day of busting heavies at the office. He would have cheerfully eaten Friskies Classic Pate' Chicken dinner on a toasted English muffin if she had prepared it for him. **

**Tom now opened the freezer door and fished out a turkey pie. He tossed it onto the kitchen counter, which it hit with a dismal clang. Deciding he wasn't up to finding the baking sheet and throwing away the empty box and setting the oven on preheat and waiting for it to heat and then waiting nearly an hour to sate his appetite on something that probably tasted like the box it came in, he sat down heavily at the kitchen table and sighed. Then, after about twenty seconds of self pity, he got up to grab a box of Tam Tam crackers and began to pack them in, one by one. He was starving.**

**It was then that his front door opened; thus began one of the happiest evenings of Tom Manning's life. **

**He immediately realized two wonderful things: first, that his Lucine was home; and second, that she had arrived with an armload of Chinese take-out. **

"**God is good!" shouted Tom Manning as he went to help her.**


	14. CH 14: HONEY AND MONEY

**CHAPTER 14: Honey and Money, Health and Wealth**

**Tom and Lucine tucked into their Ma Po tofu ****and ****tangerine beef, the Tam Tam crackers forgotten. After they had finished eating, Lucine slapped an envelope down on the table in front of Tom, barely missing a small puddle of duck sauce.**

"**This is for you," she said.**

**Tom picked it up. "What is this, sweetheart?" he asked cautiously. Lucine's surprises were always attention-grabbing but occasionally unpleasant. One day she had brought home a dead owl from the side of the road so she could show him the patterns on its feathers. Other surprises were better, like the wealth of Chinese food she brought tonight.**

"**I will be doing some advertising for the World Trade Center," Lucine told him. "I thought I would help make some more money so you don't get so upset at those investment reports you get."**

**Tom thumbed the envelope open, pulling out a check. **

**He blinked hard. **

**It bore a face amount of one hundred thousand dollars and was made out to him.**

**He was speechless for a long while. Lucine looked at him with trepidation, fearing that she had somehow offended him. "It is not like the owl, is it?" she inquired, a quaver in her odd voice.**

**Finally, he spoke, his voice breaking with emotion.**

"**I've – never seen a check this big in my entire life," he said, relief and gratitude pouring through him in waves. "God, Lucine. This is just tremendous. You can't imagine how much pressure this will take off me! All my life I've worked hard and have so little to show for it – just knowing that this is sitting in the bank will let me relax just a little bit. Who knows? Maybe – one of these years – I'll even be able to – retire." He sighed deeply at the thought.**

**Lucine crawled into his lap, hugging him. It was never an easy task as her wings threw off her center of gravity ****and she had to take care not to upend them both****. "You always worry so much about that thing called a pension. I am not sure what it is, but it makes you so unhappy I thought I would "write you a check".**

**He hugged her tightly. "I can't thank you enough." He tried very hard not to cry.**

"**And that's just the start," she added, ****kissing his face and then ****disengaging herself. ****She picked**** up some dirty dishes to carry to the sink.**

"**Lu – cine," Tom Manning said in a low voice."What on Earth do you mean?"**

"**That check is part of more money. It is what the lawyer said was something called an advance. I signed a contract for fifteen million dollars a year for the next three years. Just like one of those baseball players you are always shouting at on the television!"**

"**Dear God, please don't let me have a stroke!" **

"**And here is another surprise! ****We do not have to live here anymore! We are moving to a space in One World Trade Center! It is very big and wonderful!"**

**Tom eyed her suspiciously. "There's no residential space in that building, Lucine," he said. "We can't live there."**

**"You know, that is exactly what the lawyers said! I do not understand lawyers but I do know they talk about rules. Heaven and Hell are full of rules. But they changed the rules just for us. They will lease the space to me, and I am not a person. I am an angel. That makes the space – um, not space people live in. Do you understand?"**

**At this, Tom began to laugh. "I like the way you explain technicalities, Lucine! But what about me?"**

"**Oh, the lawyer wrote up some papers saying you were my business associate."**

**Tom laughed. "Business associate in what?"**

"_**Lucine Messenger LLC."**_

"**Uh, what is our business?"**

"**I provide something called free-lance security services. And since you are in the FBI you are there to help me. Don't worry; the lawyer asked Johann about it and he said it was fine."**

"**Johann Krauss? He knew about this before I did? Oh, great!"**

"**Of course he did! I couldn't tell you because it would ruin the surprise. And guess what? I arranged for you to come with me to the roof every morning, and the helicopter will take you to work in Trenton! So, ****I am the one who flies to work now, but you will be the one who flies to work when we move****!"**

**Tom began to smile, finally beginning to enjoy one of the happiest evenings of his life.**

**XXXXXX**

**Shortly after its launch three months later, ****Lucine's World Trade Center campaign ****proved to be**** a success even though it borrowed heavily from an old ad promotion for the New York Harley hotels. This did not bother Lucine even though the woman featured in the old ads – the late Leona Helmsley – had been a much-hated woman. Lucine had done her homework on ****her**** ahead of time and had even ascertained that Leona had, in fact, gone to Hell after she died.**

"**What a nasty creature ****the Leona Helmsley woman was****!" Lucine told the advertising executive in charge of the World Trade Center account. They sat at a large ****mahogany**** table that held – naturally – a large carafe of hazelnut coffee. ****The view from the One World Trade Center conference room was nothing less than ****astonishing to the executive****; Lucine was already well-acquainted with aerial views ****of the city from her own reconnaissance.**

**"She left her fortune to a dog. The dog bit its new owners even though it was a very rich dog. It is a good thing that dogs do not go to Hell." **

"**We figure that few people will remember that old campaign or Leona Helmsley," the ad exec told her confidently. "Memories are short. Many of the folks who remember that campaign are in the old folks' home. Heh. You, on the other hand, are today's news and everyone wants to hear what you have to say. Now remember, Lucine. No free advertising for anyone. Macy's should have paid you millions for the free advertising you gave them!"**

**Lucine smiled. "Oh, no. You are wrong there." She waved her index finger ****at him ****in emphasis. "Did I tell you that the World Trade Center gave Tom and me an apartment right in the building so that they can say I am nearly always there? Well, right after we moved in I called Macy's and they sent me that second king mattress. Now my wings are comfy every night because our new bed and our new bedroom are so big!" She clapped her small hands in joy. **

**The ad exec grinned, amused that his client was so happy with what he considered so little. "You lucked out all right, Lucine."**

**She looked hard at him. "Now, you are a young man and I can see that you have never lived with privation and loneliness. I, on the other hand, lived alone in what was more or less a cave for four hundred years. You cannot imagine how grateful I am. Just knowing Tom is happy is worth the world to me." She walked around the conference room, her wings rustling, their eyes blinking happily. "Now, there are a few more people I would like to make happy as well," she said. "Where is the thing you people call a check-book?"**

**XXXXXX**

**The leasing of office space among the World Trade Center towers had been slow as of late. The corporate powers-that-be, in their infinite wisdom, had decided that using ****Lucine**** as their corporate representative wasn't a bad idea since she had personally saved their sizable investment (except for all that glass, which fortunately had been covered by insurance) during the recent terrorist attack. She also currently served as the head of security for One World Trade Center. However, after talking to Lucine for an extended period of time, they also decided to use her only in photographs; having a corporate spokeswoman who might ****stare deep into the souls of**** prospective lessees ****and tell them**** they ****we****re hell-bound would be, after all, highly impolitic.**

**Elizabeth Sherman laughed out loud with pleased recognition when she saw the first of these photos in a ****New York Times**** World Trade Center advertisement.**

**The twins had been eating in their matching high-chairs, a shower gift from Abe Sapien. The newspaper, which had been lying open on their cluttered kitchen table, was spotted with rice cereal. She would have to remember to wipe it off and put it aside for Red to see. Right now he and Abe were off on assignment, chasing a group of revenants who were menacing Albany, New York.**

**Liz sat down in one of her kitchen chairs with a thump and studied the ad. It featured a stunning picture of Lucine in a gorgeous beige floral Anna Sui dress, wings extended, standing in front of One World Trade Center with her right arm held out in a welcoming gesture. **

_**"The only skyscraper in the world where an angel stands guard",**_** the ad proclaimed in large and fancy print. **

"**Oh Lucine," Liz sighed. "I miss you. Where have you been?"**

**Liz fought hard to suppress her tears. Even with their combined salaries from the Bureau, she and Hellboy found life in the city notoriously expensive. Practically every cent went into payment of their rent and utilities. Living at the Bureau had been cost-free but both had realized it was hardly the place to raise a family. There were also far too many creepy things there; things that might easily frighten two tiny children. **

**Liz looked around the room at her second-hand furniture. She was still deeply grateful for the survival of all four of them, of course, but she had hoped the good life would have been a bit sweeter than living with shabby furnishings and a man who was frequently absent due to his brutal work schedule. Tom Manning might be married to her best friend, but he was still a harsh taskmaster and made sure the government got every dollar's worth out of his agents. **

**Liz herself was scheduled to work tomorrow. Her body ached. She was so tired. Manning would have a million things for her to do, no doubt.**

**Lucine, on the other hand, was wearing Anna Sui and lived in the Freedom Tower. **

**Liz frowned, instantly hating herself for her jealous thoughts. ****They continued to rumble through her head in spite of her best intentions.**

**Lucine wasn't even a real person. Liz recalled the day when it had terrified her to even look at her – tall, eyeless, remorseless. ****And now she was a model. Really. A freaking _model?_ _In the freaking New York Times?_ ****Are you freaking serious?**

**The former death angel was better looking these days ****after Hela had pieced her body parts back together like a puzzle and guessed on the rest,**** but ****Lucine ****still ****bore**** all the scars that the devils had carved and burned into her. ****Liz had been surprised that the Heavenly Host hadn't done a rehab on them as well before they sent her back down after the terror attack. It probably didn't matter. ****The only person who ever saw them was Tom McFrigging Awful Boss Manning and he couldn't have cared less; after all, Lucine was his perfect beautiful little angel. **

**The rest of the world never saw her scars because Lucine was always dressed in beautiful clothes. Head to frigging toe. Like that Anna Sui dress that must have cost sixty bajillion dollars. **

**Liz looked down at her own t-shirt and sweat pants and felt another surge of jealousy. It wasn't fair. **

**She then spotted a cat hairball on the dingy kitchen floor. Sighing, she bent over to pick it up.**

**XXXXXXXX**

**Over the next hour, she cleaned up her kitchen and her babies and played with them on the living room floor; she had spread an old quilt over it to cover the ancient shag carpet. It was so grimy that all the rug cleaners in the world ****wouldn't even make it halfway passable****. ****She wouldn't have her kids play on an ugly old rug, not as long as she had breath in her body. **

**Liz sighed deeply. ****Trevor and baby Liz were dear children and Liz was pleased at how good a father Red was turning out to be. When they saw him, that was. He was working too much; Liz missed him. **

**On an impulse, she reached over for her cellphone and punched Lucine's number. Thank God the B.P.R.D. was footing the bill for the phone because ****otherwise**** she and Hellboy would have been unable to swing it.**

**It took a number of transfers before Liz heard Lucine's ****odd little ****screechy ****voice. Keeping a close eye on Trevor and little Liz, she was unable to contain her deep unhappiness ****in her own ****voice ****when she spoke to her friend.**

"**Hey, Lucine, how are you?"**

"**Elizabeth Sherman! You do not sound good. Tell me the trouble."**

"**Oh – nothing," Liz fibbed. "I just missed hearing your voice. How have you been?"**

**XXXXX**

**Within three hours Lucine had arranged for a babysitter for the children and was sitting at Colicchio &amp; Sons restaurant with Liz, who was both immensely flattered and relieved that her friend would have paid for a taxi to fetch her. Lucine had ordered the spice-rubbed brisket sandwich with horseradish and sweet peppers. Liz, being overly conscious of money in case Lucine meant for them to go dutch, had opted for the butter lettuce salad with blue cheese. **

"**So, has Anung un Rama ****asked you to marry him****?" ****asked**** Lucine. Since she did not fully understand human interaction and had a rather prickly personality at best, the question fell on Liz's ears more harshly than Lucine meant. **

"**What?" Liz retorted. ****Lucine was as subtle as a crowbar.**

**Lucine covered her eyes for a moment. "I am sorry. I am worried about you. I hope you are happy together. Tom tells me that Anung un Rama is very grouchy. Are the children all right? I don't know how to say things properly; please forgive me, my dear."**

**Liz looked at her flustered winged friend and smiled. "Oh, I know, Lucine," she said. "You can barely manage to string two cohesive sentences together, but it doesn't matter to me because I know your heart. Well, let's see," Liz said, her eyes growing larger at the sight of the delicious salad being placed before her. "Oh, that looks wonderful. Um, kids are fine and so am I. Still crazy about each other. Red's working a lot of hours. Tom just doesn't let up on him."**

_**How embarrassing is this,**_** Liz thought. **_**She goes home to the guy.**_

"**Red has proposed but I really don't want to just run down to City Hall and get it over with. I would rather hold out for a small ceremony with a few friends, you know?" Liz took a bite. "Nothing big. I mean, we don't have many friends as it is. I mean – I don't have many friends. Everyone in New York loves Red. Besides, we can't afford it just now."**

**Lucine poked at her sandwich with her carefully-manicured nails and a butter knife. **

_**Tom really should have gone over table manners with her a little better, **_**Liz thought.**

**The two women were silent as they ate.**

"**I know you are very sad, dear Elizabeth Sherman," Lucine said in her typically abrupt manner. "I have a present for you. Would you like it?"**

**Liz looked up at her, her eyes full of jealousy mixed up with sadness. Weeks and weeks of exhaustion rose to fill her throat. Her eyes brimmed with tears. "Oh, Lucine. I would so love a present."**

**Lucine smiled and handed her an envelope, licking a drop of horseradish from the end of her knife. "Don't open it until Anung un Rama gets home."**

"**I will, and thanks. And Lucine. Don't lick knives; you could cut yourself."**

**Lucine put the knife down with a clang. "Oh, yes, I forget these things," she said, reaching over and grabbing the check before the waiter could even lay it on the table.**

**It was at that moment that Liz burst into tears. **

**She cried for a good five minutes. **

**Lucine smiled and gestured to the wait staff to just stand by and let her do it; they graciously did so. She also waved ****hello ****at nearby diners, who were delighted to ****be greeted by**** New York City's only resident angel. She went over and put her arms around the exhausted new mother.**

**After a while, the hitchings in Liz's throat subsided. She took several deep breaths and looked at Lucine. **

"**I am so sorry," she whispered.**

"**Nonsense," her friend replied. "At least you did not crawl into a closet." **

**With that, Lucine Mal'akha Manning returned to her seat and polished off the last of the brisket sandwich. She then pulled her cellphone out of her ****ruched silver Prada**** bag and called her husband, giving him hell for over-scheduling Hellboy. She added that Liz would not be into work tomorrow as she and Liz were going to the spa for the day. **

**Liz began to cry once more. **

"**You're the best," she wept. **

**Elizabeth Sherman slipped the envelope into her old cracked leather handbag.**


	15. Chapter 15: Ha-Mashchit

**CHAPTER 15: _HA-MASHCHIT_**

**It was Friday night. **

**The abandoned warehouse loomed before them, as bleak as the pouring rain which pounded down upon the assembly of agents representing a number of government and private entities. **

**The operation this evening included seven FBI agents, the B.P.R.D. in-house talents of Red, Abe, and Liz, and **_**Lucine Messenger LLC**_**. The latter was ****represented**** because of a contract granted by Johann Krauss on behalf of the B.P.R.D. (normal bidding ****and anti-nepotism ****rules did not apply due to the ****Bureau's stringent ****security clearance ****requirements****). Of course, **_**Lucine Messenger LLC **_**was ****now ****represented by Lucine Mal'akha Manning herself, who stood on the wet ****and broken hot top ****wearing**** a scowl, her black hair plastered to her head in the ****relentless and chilly ****downpour. **

**She had worked hard ****all day**** at One World Trade Center and had been looking forward to a nice dry evening complete with some lovely food and ****the adoring presence of Dr. Thomas ****Manning. No such luck; not after the tip the Bureau received earlier today. **

**Her**** wing-eyes were tightly closed. Lucine did not care for rain in her eyes, no matter where they were located. Remarkably, the rain ran off her wings as smoothly as off the feathers of a bird of prey. The analogy was apt, ****considering that she was here ****tonight ****to do a little demon-hunting****.**

**Tom Manning – ****similarly weary and similarly resigned – ****addressed the group. "We suspect that a group of demons have joined up with ISIS forces once again."**

"**When will those morons ever learn?" Hellboy intoned. Liz smiled at him, and he smiled back ****and that was all he wanted,**** for that was the point of his witty quip.**

"**Indeed, agent," Manning replied rather testily.**** "The ****Nuclear Threat Initiative tipped us off ****this morning ****that weapons-grade ****nuclear material is being smuggled out of this warehouse. We ****scanned ****the location**** several times today and ****have no indication that it's being guarded, and ordinarily we wouldn't handle a seizure of this type, but the hot stuff is well-contained and ours for the taking. Obviously, we're spearheading this job because of the involvement of demonic presences." He looked at Lucine, who was in a smiting mood and twitching with anticipation. She looked at him and shook her head. **

_**No demons. **__**At least not yet.**_

"**The FBI agents will provide cover; Lucine will neutralize any supernatural nasties. Liz, Abe, and Red – I want you to secure the contraband. We've already checked to see if the area is hot; if it were, we wouldn't be standing here in the rain. Got it?"**

**All nodded. **

"**Let's be careful in there."**

**XXXXXXX**

**The warehouse contained the hallmarks of homelessness and drug use as well as a treasure of nuclear material hidden who knew where. Liz gingerly stepped over an array of spent needles lying on the floor, panning around to look for what could be hidden contraband. Red was right behind her. **

**Abe snapped alert. _"We have company."_**

**This came as a most unpleasant surprise to everyone; the ****young ****FBI agents had done a walk-through twice today – the latest only an hour before – and they had given ****the Old Man**** the all-clear. With a sick feeling in their stomachs, t****he****y now**** ringed the ****other members of the ****group, scanning the stacks of pallets and broken machinery for signs of ****activity****. **

**Without warning, the clatter of small-arms fire came from the left side of the warehouse; the agents immediately returned fire. Lucine turned and saw Red struck by a bullet; it spun him around and felled him before she could even take in enough air to scream out a warning. Liz shrieked, falling on him to shield him from further attacks. **

**Lucine's wings snapped out and a pulse of energy rolled from her, literally sucking the air out of the room. **

**A series of screams – eight, ten, maybe twenty of them – echoed from the far corners of the warehouse, followed by the sounds of falling bodies.**

**Then there was silence.**

**XXXXXX**

**There was no sound from anywhere in the warehouse. No one spoke for a good twenty seconds.**

**The first voice to break the dreadful silence was Abe's. **

"**RED!"**

"**I'm OK! They just winged me!"**

"**What the hell just happened?" an FBI agent shrieked.**

**The agents fanned out to the edges of the building and began literally tripping over a multitude of bodies, their illegal weapons now lying uselessly by their sides. **

"**Oh Jesus! This is bad!" cried one of the FBI agents. "Get the boss in here now!" Two others raced out the door to find Dr. Manning. **

**Yet another agent got on the com. "It was that angel, sir! ****Except for us, s****he killed everybody! ****They're all dead! And ****Agent Hellboy is down; shot in the shoulder!****" **

**Abe ****ran**** over to the angel in question, who seemed to be frozen in place. **

"**Lucine, what have you done?" he gasped, taking her arm.**

**She wrenched away from him and fell to her knees, bending from the waist so that her forehead touched the pavement. Abe heard her begin to scream. **

**XXXXXX**

**Johann Krauss had been listening to the transmissions coming from inside the warehouse from a nearby vehicle, and had heard everything. He was on the scene immediately, but not soon enough to personally intercept Tom Manning, who was already running toward the building. In response, Krauss pointed at Manning and gestured to an agent who was coming out of the warehouse door. **

"**Stop him at once!" he cried. **

**Shocked, the ****young ****agent blocked Tom. Another grabbed his arm. They looked at Krauss with bewildered expressions; ****Dr. Manning had ****been one of their guest instructors**** at the Academy. ****Johann ran up to the small group, hearing Lucine's shrieks coming from inside. **

"**Dr. Manning, do not enter the warehouse," he commanded. **

"**Just listen to her, Johann!" Tom retorted, pulling away from the agent who held his arm. **

"**Do not enter, and that is an order! Return to the mobile van immediately!"**

**Tom stared at Krauss, shocked. "If you hurt Lucine, so help me I'll – "**

**He did not finish his sentence; Johann was already gone.**

"**I'm sorry, sir," the young agent said. There wasn't an FBI agent or trainee alive who didn't know the story of Dr. Manning and his angel. "We really couldn't be sorrier about this."**

"**That's OK, kid," Tom growled, spinning on his heels and heading for the van. **

**He had a lot of thinking to do.**

**XXXXXXX**

**The agents ****inside ****were in the process of counting the dead. So far, there were thirteen. Liz examined Red's shoulder wound ****and would have dug it out if she had dared ****just to relieve his pain****. Abe was crouched next to Lucine on the floor.**

"**She's speaking Enochian, I think," Abe said, looking up as Johann approached. "It's the language of the angels. I don't understand it."**

"**No, but we can both understand the kind of trouble she's in," Johann sighed. **_**"**__**Schatzchen, **_**stand up now. You must come along with me."**

**Both Abe and Johann helped Lucine to her feet. She was still wailing. "I did not mean to do it – they had shot Anung Un Rama – I couldn't – "she gasped between sobs.**

"**I know," Johann sighed, and gently pulled her small wrists behind her, careful not to ****catch them in her wing feathers****. An agent applied the ****hand****cuffs. As her wrist****s were**** turned, her wedding ring caught the headlights of his vehicle and sparkled prettily. For a moment long enough to hurt, Johann recalled his own wife's ring now entombed in a cloth bag along with his own. **

**He sighed. "I am sorry, Lucine. You understand that I must follow procedure right now."**

"**Where is my Tom?"**

"**He is out in the van. He will not be able to speak with you ****just now****. It is the way it is, I'm afraid. Come along, now."**

**XXXXXX**

**It took Tom Manning's every last ounce of restraint to keep himself from tackling Krauss and snatching Lucine from harm's way. **

_**Maybe I can uncuff her. Our cuffs have universal keys, although it's not public knowledge. Then she can fly away. If they shoot at her, they will die and they know it. I don't give a damn if they take me into custody. No, that won't work. I'm too old to move that fast, especially since she's ringed by those kids from Quantico.**_

**He was grateful for his many years of training as any move to liberate ****his wife**** would result in ****nothing less than ****a monumental disaster. Not that the little Manning family wasn't already in the midst of one. He watched Lucine, small and wet and handcuffed and bent over with ****the force of her ****weeping, as she was led to Krauss's vehicle and placed in the back seat. His stomach churned. **

_**What in the hell had happened in there?**_

**Manning applied hindsight to his actions and came up short. He should have made sure that the warehouse was unoccupied, and he hadn't. ****He relied on those kids from Quantico. He should have known better and sent in experienced agents ****five minutes before the raid, not an hour before****. What the hell, he was just doing a favor for one of his buddies in Virginia and helping the younger agents receive some needed experience. **

_**Well, that turned out to be a lousy call, ****did****n't it? You should have seen that coming, Tom old boy. ****And now guess what! Surprise! Your career is now in the dumper!**_

**Agent Hellboy had been shot**** and he didn't know how bad. ****That was on him too. ****That strutting bio-mechanical horse's ass from Washington would gut him like a ****lake trout ov****er th****at**** one. **

**Tom shook his head, remembering**** that anyone who shot at Lucine would drop dead, their guts liquified as efficiently as if they'd swallowed a lit cherry bomb. **

_**Thirteen creeps shoot at an angel and that equals thirteen bodies.**_

_**Stupid, stupid, stupid.**_

**If he kept his badge after this, it would be a miracle. If his wife didn't do twenty to life, it would be yet another. **

**He groaned, feeling physically sick.**

**Tom Manning's**** mind frantically ran through his options and there were few. The B.P.R.D. arrest and detention protocols were far different from those employed by other law enforcement agencies due to sec****urity**** concerns. There would be no public arraignment; no bail; no call to a lawyer. She was on her own, at least for now. **

**He cursed Krauss for keeping him away from h****er****. If he couldn't bust her loose he could damned well comfort her. He knew just how fast and how profoundly Lucine could fall apart. ****Screaming and collapsing-on-the-floor falling apart, not to put too fine a point on it. ****Dear Lord yes.**

_**We just got her away from hiding in closets! What the hell will happen to her after this? Oh please God don't let her end up in McLean's outside Boston!**_

**That was the nuthouse where the FBI sent their agents who had cracked up. And their wives too, he supposed. ****He was sick with dread for his angel's fate.**

**He sighed and put his face in his hands. What to do. What to do?**

**It occurred to him.**

**When Tom Manning prayed, he did so to the God of his understanding. Right now, however, his urgent mental call for help went to another deity altogether – Lucine's friend Hela, Queen of Niflheim.**

_**My poor girl's gotten in another jam, lady; can you pull her out of the fire again?**_

**Tom fought to stay in control after his brief prayer.**

_**Fat lot of good a Norse goddess will do her,**_** he thought frantically, his heart pounding with an irregularity that disturbed him. **_**Better get the old ticker checked out by Medical one of these days,**_** he thought. **

**What next? Well, he could at least be there to see her when she returned to the Bureau. He barked orders to his driver and sat back in his seat, seething with rage, keeping careful count of his pulse as they drove.**

**XXXXXXX**

**Forty minutes later, Krauss's vehicle pulled into the B.P.R.D. garage.**

"**Put her in a ****l****evel ****ten**** containment chamber," he said quietly to the agent who led Lucine forward. "I have no idea what she can do. ****We have no experience with an angel who is trapped.****" He turned smartly to his prisoner. "Lucine, I want you to sit tight until I can get an investigation underway. Do you understand?"**

**At this, he was assaulted with a string of Enochian oaths that – if he had been able to understand them – would have struck him quite dumb. ****As it was, they merely annoyed him.**

"**Thus spake ****one of ****the Heavenly Host," ****Johann Krauss**** sighed, then caught the sight of Tom Manning ****approaching**** her to their right.**

"**No, Tom, you can't – " He held out his arm in what he immediately knew was a fruitless gesture.**

**Tom grabbed Lucine and held her tightly; he knew he would probably be arrested but didn't care. "I won't ****let them hurt you****! Don't worry! I love you and I'll get you out of this!" he whispered in her ear.**

"**I love you too, my Tom," she whispered, bursting into tears again, the last of her self-restraint utterly gone. "Do not leave me, please!"**

**Krauss sighed. "That's enough," he ordered. "I am placing you on a leave of absence of indefinite duration, effective immediately." He turned to a group of B.P.R.D. agents who were standing by. "Please escort Dr. Manning out of the building. **_**Right now."**_

**Lucine's Enochian oaths had been nothing to those that then flowed from the lips of Dr. Thomas Manning. His were in English; plain, direct, and quite easy to understand. **

**Manning not only told Krauss to go to Hell, but gave him directions ****and suggested what he could do ****to himself ****once he arrived****.**

**XXXXXXX**

**Hellboy sat in Medical as Abe monitored his vital signs on a nearby array. Liz was on the phone to the sitter, pleading with her to stay just a couple of hours longer.**

"**I don't think I have enough cash on me to pay her," Red said. "Liz, you flush tonight?"**

**She looked at him. "Are you kidding? I went grocery shopping last night. The cupboard isn't bare, but my wallet certainly is." She turned to Abe and smiled. "We told you about the incredible wedding gift Tom and Lucine gave us. Fifty thousand bucks! My God! We put it in the bank immediately. That's why I don't have any money." She couldn't help but laugh at this one. "We were so grateful we went over to their apartment and bawled our eyes out. Well, I did, at least. We can actually plan a wedding now and move into a decent apartment. You have no idea what it means to us to have a little security. We've been living hand to mouth this past year, and that's no joke."**

**Abe waved a blue hand. "No problem, I have two tens and two twenties in my room. They're yours. How are you feeling, Red?"**

"**OK," Hellboy replied. The doctor had removed the bullet and cleansed the wound. "Seven stitches! That's all it took. Think I'll live, buddy. I sure am tired, though."**

"**Lie down, honey," Liz said, gently pushing him back. "Take a snooze and we'll see how you feel then. I can always go spell the sitter and you can stay here. Abe will look after you." Liz then stood, an uneasy expression on her face. "Speaking of looking after people, we sure aren't keeping an eye on Lucine for Tom. I tried to make my way over there, but those FBI brats won't let me near her. I hope she's OK."**

**XXXXX**

**Lucine might have been many things that night, but OK was not one of them.**

**The young men and women who stood guard outside Lucine's containment chamber sipped vending machine coffee and jostled about, trying to keep from looking as terrified of the creature inside it as they truly were.**

"**Were you there, Ed?" a young B.P.R.D. agent asked.**

"**Yeah. All she did was blink her eyes and she shot off this pulse of, I don't know, energy or something. She blew out all their guts and she didn't lift a finger. I watched her. So, yeah."**

"**God," she replied. "How could they have even used anyone that dangerous? I saw her in the ads and thought she was so cool. Guess not."**

"**Do you think Manning will get canned?"**

**Another of the agents who had been at the aborted raid stepped up. **"**Very possibly. He sort of ended his career when he hooked up with that thing in the first place. I think that Washington might just ask for his resignation this weekend and get it. If I was him, I'd get on a plane and get the holy tarnal hell away from – "**

"**Loose lips sink ships, kids," Elizabeth Sherman spat, walking past them with her typical strut and cracking a rolled-up newspaper in her palm. "When can I talk to her?"**

"**Never," replied an older B.P.R.D. agent who Liz knew but disliked. "If that flying death machine ever finds her way out of a cell in the next thirty years, I'll be surprised. In the meantime, there is a no-contact order in place. That includes you, Toots."**

"**When you grow up, kids," Liz said, turning to face him. "Don't be an a-hole like this jerk." She snapped the paper at him. It struck him on the forehead and fell to the floor, spreading out in an untidy fan.**

"**_The only skyscraper in the world where an angel stands guard," _it announced in fancy print.**

**XXXXX**

**Lucine the Messenger knew better than to try to batter her way out of a level ten containment chamber. **

**Nobody got out of one of those babies; not a shrieking revenant nor a rage-filled yeti nor a frantic rakshasa with the power of twenty men. Lucine was a very old soul and a survivor. Just to test it, however, she had spread her wings a little while ago just to see what would happen; a couple of lasers blasted away a chunk of feathers and meat from each wing. **

**Great, matching holes. More burn scars to add to the collection. A real fashion statement; One World Trade Center will love them in the ads.**

**_If they got one of my eyes, I would have lost it, _she thought. _I lost my eyes before and I will be blasted to the Pit if I allow anyone to do it to me again._**

**Oh, please. Exactly who did she think she was kidding here? She was five feet two inches tall and weighed exactly ninety-seven pounds. To make matters worse, nobody in Heaven was exactly frantic to break her out of here, either. She had ticked off the higher-ups for many centuries with her frequent attempts to protect the soul of Anung Un Rama. They didn't exactly consider her a fallen angel – at least not yet – but no other angel in Heaven cared a fiddly flip about her because of her odd obsession. **

**_Let Hell keep its own,_ after all. **

**After they had so graciously spruced her up after she had saved over eight million innocent human souls some months ago, they were careful to leave her covered in the scars the demons had inflicted upon her. It was just a little extra added thumb-to-the-nose to poor old Lucine the Destroyer – the _ha-mashchit_ \- reminding her that she was once and always a loser in the eyes of Heaven.**

**So, that was where it stood this evening, ladies and gentlemen. Lucine wasn't about to defeat the smallest containment system the B.P.R.D. had, let alone the great granddaddy, into which they had stuck her sorry angel butt tonight.**

_**One World Trade Center. Please and in the name of everything holy, Johann Krauss, don't call them and tell them that I'm in jail. If I lose that contract, I'll lose that job, and with Tom grabbing me for one final hug his pension is probably in the toilet as well.**_

**She felt a spasm of fear, and then anger rose to take its place. She did what she did because Anung Un Rama had been shot. Plain and simple. Let the prosecuting attorneys do their worst. She worked under the rules of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense but answered to a Higher Authority, after all.**

**She rolled onto her side on the floor (no furniture was provided in containment) and curled up, wrapping her wings around her for privacy. No less than five B.P.R.D. agents were watching her every move in here.**

**She lay there a while, and realized that anger was even more uncomfortable a feeling than despair had been.**

**Not to mention loneliness.**

**XXXXXX**

**Johann Krauss came around to check in on his agents around two o'clock in the morning. They were still apprehensive and more than a touch jumpy.**

"**She's been in there crying for hours," a young FBI agent told him. **

"**She has a lot to cry about," Johann returned smartly. "She has to account for the deaths of thirteen prospective detainees. You need to tell the rest of the agents who were on the mission to be prepared to testify against her."**

"**No problem," she said.**

**Krauss walked on and was joined by the B.P.R.D.'s in-house counsel – a man who had not just one axe to grind with Dr. Thomas Manning, but many. "Are we going to can him?" he asked with a barely-suppressed grin.**

"**Why? Are you taking pleasure in a colleague's possible downfall?"**

"**Uh, no sir. I'm concerned not only about the criminal side but also the possibility of wrongful death suits. I mean, the angel is an independent contractor, thankfully, but Manning isn't. He's the one who sent them in there to march in a parade with their legs cut off at the knees."**

"**Aren't you being a bit dramatic?" Johann replied, more than just an edge to his voice. "The Attorney General's Office will make the final calls; I don't think you will have to trouble yourself with it." **

**The lawyer stopped short. "Look, sir," he said. "I've suffered for years because of that miserable s.o.b. If I can help stick in a few knives as he goes down, the happier I'll be." Without waiting for Johann's response, he turned and went down an adjacent corridor to leave for the night.**

**Krauss continued his listless saunter ****alone****. **

"**Too much **_**schadenfreude **_**is never a good thing****, my friend," he said to nobody in particular. "****What does the Bible say? **_**'Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth. Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turns away his wrath from him.' **_**The Book of Proverbs, I think."**

**H****e looked at the clock and realized for the first time that it was already Saturday.**


	16. Chapter 16: Blood Sigils and Special Ops

**CHAPTER 16: BLOOD SIGILS AND SPECIAL OPS**

**Johann Krauss returned to check on his agents at seven-thirty am. One of the younger B.P.R.D. agents met him with a question in her eyes.**

"**Trouble, Fraulein_?"_ he asked with a courtly bow.**

"**She's hungry, but we didn't know how to get her food in her cell – "**

"**Containment chamber, agent," Krauss corrected. "This isn't Ad Seg in a penal facility. She gets no food in her containment chamber. You are not to open her door. You are not to speak to her. Under no circumstances should her hands be unshackled. She is not wholly human. We are dealing with an entity who has lived for thousands of years. We have no idea of what acts she is capable. Do you understand?"**

**The young woman nodded, her eyes wide. "But sir – isn't she Dr. Manning's wife?"**

"**She is indeed. But she is still a very dangerous creature. She is a death angel and no matter how long she lives among us, she will always be so." He switched his tone to a less serious one. "Take a break. Let me talk to Agent Rawlings."**

**Relieved, she strode off to get her supervisor. He arrived shortly thereafter from the lunchroom, ready for orders.**

"**I want to go in there, Rawlings. I know that it is a little unorthodox, but there is nothing she can do to me." Krauss chuckled. "After all, I have no body. If things get a bit dicey, I can always float back out through the vents. Our secret?"**

**The man nodded and released a few valves that regulated inflow into the ventilation system. He watched Johann leave his own containment chamber with a hiss of vapor.**

**Within less than a minute, Johann Krauss was inside Lucine's.**

**XXXXXX**

**Lucine Mal'akha Manning had been curled up on the floor, lying on a gray blanket with her arms shackled behind her. She looked up at Krauss and hissed.**

"**Lucine, I know you are very unhappy but there is nothing I can do at this point. I am awaiting instructions. In the meantime, I wanted you to know that you will be having a visitor from Washington today. Listen to what he has to say."**

"**Tom – "she whispered, hoarse from her ceaseless weeping.**

"**He is at home on a leave of absence. It is usual in such matters."**

**At this, she burst into tears and hid her face in the dingy blanket. "I need Tom," she whispered. Did Krauss sense embarrassment in her tone?**

"**I understand that."**

"**No, you do not. Tom puts medicine on my back every day to spare me some of the pain from my burns. I used to be able to handle it, but since the wings returned the pain is unbearable. He – he is not here, you see."**

"**My poor dear girl," Krauss sighed. "Let me see what I can do."**

**Within moments, he had slid back into the free air of the corridor. "I will return in a moment," he said to Rawlings once he had re-entered his suit, "and will be going back in, suit and all. Stand by, please."**

**XXXXXX**

**Lucine lay motionless, her face still hidden in the gray cloth. She knew it was dangerous to trust Krauss, but her pain was too great. She also knew that it was dangerous to trust Heaven. She had done so many terrible things at its behest.**

**She thought now about a Biblical verse in which she had figured prominently:**

**_And the Angel of the Lord went out and attacked the Assyrian camp; One hundred eighty-five thousand. And when they arose in the morning, they were all dead bodies._ (Isaiah 37:36)**

**That had been Lucine, the girl who now lay in a cold cell on a blanket, once the creature known by a fearful humanity as _Ha-Mashchit,_ the Destroyer. She had done that thing, and plenty more besides. If she had been a truly righteous servant of Heaven, other angels would have stormed this facility and blasted its inhabitants to atoms to rescue her. It had been increasingly obvious to her throughout the course of the long night, however, that her superiors had thrown her to the dogs. **

**Her heart cried out to God for help. She moaned and slid onto her other side. Her shoulders and back hurt terribly, and her Tom was not there to help her.**

**XXXXXX**

"**Very good," Krauss said in a chipper tone when Agent Rawlings admitted him into the containment chamber. It took several minutes of clankings and whirrings to unsecure the many seals that made it so unbreachable. Johann carried a container of medicated salve that he had been given by the chief physician.**

"**Here I am back again, you see," he said, looking down at her. Lucine's thin legs looked like sticks to him. She was motionless and silent. "Here we go. Up, now." **

**He knelt and helped her sit upright, then uncovered her back. It was crisscrossed with burn scars. The areas around the roots of her wings looked very bad. **

"**So, the demons burned you like a stack of firewood because you have spent hundreds of years trying to protect the soul of Agent Hellboy, eh?"**

**Silence.**

**He applied a handful of salve, touching her skin as lightly as he could with his metal-tipped gloves. She winced. "Easy, now. In my mind, such a person could never be a criminal."**

"**It would seem that your superiors in Washington disagree. It is all right, Johann," she said. "Let me help."**

**He shook his head. "I am sorry, _Liebchen,_ but I know the blood sigil trick."**

**Lucine flushed. Angels could escape from any confinement if they were able to draw a mystical sign on a floor or wall with blood, their own or another's, and it was just her bad luck that Johann Krauss knew about it. That explained why they had refused to unshackle her.**

**She felt a surge of despair so deep that she nearly cried out. She should have bitten off the end of her tongue to draw the sigil; she had seriously considered it but had been too exhausted to muster up the will to mutilate herself.**

**Fresh tears welled up in her sore eyes. "And – you won't do it – for me?" she whispered. "I would be gone in a second, and you would never see me again."**

"**I have no blood to give you, poor Lucine," he said quietly. "I am sorrier than you know. And I am sorry also for your husband, who is a friend of mine. There, I am all done. Does it feel better?"**

**She nodded.**

"**I will put some around your wrists, as you have rubbed them raw."**

"**How much longer?"**

"**That is up to you. Your visitor will arrive later this morning. All I ask is that you listen to what he has to say."**

**Lucine turned herself around to face Krauss. "Does Tom know he's coming?" she asked.**

"**No," Johann replied solemnly.**

"**Would Tom want him to see me?"**

**Johann Krauss stood with a wheeze. "_Liebchen,_ I think your Tom would skin him alive. But that is just my opinion."**

**With that, he clicked his heels together. "Agent Rawlings," he announced. "kindly release me."**

**XXXXX**

**Two hours later, Johann Krauss returned and spoke to Lucine through the containment chamber's com system.**

"**Frau Manning, I have come to fetch you for your meeting. Now, right now Tom is at home and it would be in both of your interests to behave yourself. I will let you out if you promise me that you will do nothing untoward. His fate is also in your hands, you see," the Austrian intoned solemnly. **

**Outside, several B.P.R.D. agents were watching him, transfixed. ****He played to his small audience like the professional he was.**

"**You will also be permitted to shower. However, you will be under constant supervision. Your nails will also be trimmed short – I know you love your ****fancy manicures****, but I don't want ****you decorating our tasteful walls with blood sigils. ****If you ****contemplate leaving us suddenly****, ****please remember that ****Tom ****will remain ****behind****. ****We will also keep your ring temporarily for the same reason. Verstehst**_** du mich?"**_

**Lucine sighed. "Yes."**

**XXXXX**

**Within another hour, Lucine – clean and without her ****black and gold ****glitter manicure – sat in a small conference room. ****Her large golden eyes darted here and there; she could find**** no sharp edges of any kind anywhere. The door whooshed open and Johann entered, accompanied by a short old man wearing camouflage.**

"**Lucine Manning, this is Colonel Vernon Schillinger. He represents a private company staffed by experienced Special Ops ****veterans**** – people who have been Navy SEALs, Army Green Berets, Army Delta, and Agency SOF. He is wanting to learn whether ****a **_**mal'ach ha mavet **_**might be a good fit for his company."**

**"So, this troll wants me to kill people for a living. Johann, is this the best you can do for me?"**

**The man bristled. Johann sighed. "****C****onsidering you're in a good deal of trouble here, you can at least listen to the man. And with that, I will bid you farewell." He clicked his boots and turned.**

"**Wait, ****pal," the old soldier said, grabbing hold of the arm of Krauss's containment suit. "I don't want this interview recorded. You understand."**

**Johann turned his head toward Lucine, who hissed and bared her teeth at him. "It is fine with me, sir. Five minutes, then. ****But please understand, Colonel Schillinger, ****that it is not Lucine's safety that concerns me. **_**Auf wiedersehen**_**.**_**"**_

**T****he door slammed shut, and the two were alone.**

"**Wow, aren't you some hot ticket? How many hundreds of thousands of people have you killed, anyway?" he grinned, pulling a cigar out of his pocket.**

"**If you light that, I will ****ram**** it up your nose," Lucine countered.**

"**Feisty, aren't you? Good. We like that. Lots of spirit. You're accurate, too. What's your kill radius? At least ****a hundred**** feet, from what we've learned from your last massacre. Of course, there was that Assyrian army. ****One – hundred – and – eighty – five – thousand souls. ****All in one night. You must have been a busy little bee. ****Nice. ****Heh.****" **

**He slid the cigar back into his pocket and leaned forward. Lucine leaned back. He gave her the creeps, ****which – for an angel of death – was saying a lot****.**

"**We need a little help in Syria, honey," Schillinger ****continued****. "We figure we can just fly you over a region and everyone who shoots at you croaks. Good and ****fine.**** However, they'll figure it out, and then we need to send you in to do whatever it is that liquifies people's guts. ****A lot of people's guts. ****We figure that you can take down ISIS ****single-handed**** within two weeks, sweet thing.****"**

"**No," Lucine replied in her most sinister hiss. "I am done with killing." **

"**Don't be too hasty, little lady," he said. "You don't seem to understand that you don't have a hell of a lot of choice here. These folks outside are entirely willing to send you away for good. You're done for. And your husband – ****dear Lord Jeezly Crow****! What a ****damn ****fool that man was, mistaking ****a ****flying**** plague like ****you for a human being! Now he's ruined his career. He's been fired and his pension is on the line."**

**Lucine gasped. "I do not believe you! I want to speak to Johann Krauss!"**

"**No can do, little lady," he said. "****No – can – do. ****Not to mention that I'm sure there's at least a couple dozen state and federal criminal statutes concerning ****the ****harboring ****of ****dangerous instrumentalities that ****end up becoming mass murderers.**** I'm sure the prosecutors will find a couple that will stick ****to Doctor – Thomas – Manning****." ****He smiled.**** "****P****oor dumb hubby may well ****end up in a ****Supermax ****just like his little sweetie pie****. Of course, the government will pay all the costs associated with a divorce ahead of time, so the poor slob might ****at least**** be able to ****salvage**** his pension once he gets out. **_**If **_**he gets out. ****Then you can come with us out into the desert and kill rag-heads ****unrestrained****. ****Got me, babe?"**

**Lucine looked down frantically at her hands, realizing that she truly could not pull off the blood sigil self-rescue at this point. She looked at him, her eyes scanning his frame for something sharp – something she could use to pierce her skin.**

"**Pull**** that angel trick and I'll personally break ****both ****of ****your ****skinny little ****arms," he growled. "****Just try me. ****Are you on board with me or what? ****Or should I ****just ****tell the nice folks at the World Trade Center to change their slogan to 'the only skyscraper where a jailbird stands guard****?"**

"**Excuse me," Johann Krauss said, re-entering the small room with a bang ****of the door****. He was accompanied by five or six B.P.R.D. agents. "Have you come to an agreement?" He looked at Lucine's white face. "No? Well, that is unfortunate. Frau Manning, your hearing officers are here from Washington. Colonel Schillinger, that will – be – all."**

**XXXXXXX**

**N****o one had been as surprised as Dr. Johann Krauss when two additional visitors from Washington showed up at the B.P.R.D. Trenton facility.**

**One was a tall older woman with a patrician face and a white up-sweep finished in a french twist. Her black suit was obviously designer. She was accompanied by her assistant, whose lovely face, long blonde hair, and ice-blue eyes made Johann think of his visits to Oslo years ago. **

"**We are here to conduct a hearing into the Manning matter," Dr. Rivka ****Schiffman**** announced. "This is my assistant, Astrid Njorddottir. We have been thoroughly vetted by your agency, Dr. Krauss. ****Additionally, you must feel free to make whatever inquiries about our **_**bona fides **_**that you deem prudent. ****I would be pleased to speak with you in several hours with a view toward having the hearing here on-site tomorrow morning."**

**Johann shook his head in amazement. "All my life, I have watched the excruciating slowness of the federal government's operations. And yet – here you are! A hearing on ****a ****Sunday!" He bent in a bow. "Dear ladies, I am pleased to be your host. I will show you to a conference room in which you might prepare. Please provide me with a list of whoever you need to attend. I assume you will need the witnesses to the – crime, at a minimum."**

"**Of course," Dr. ****Schiffman**** replied. "We will also want to examine Dr. Manning himself as he led the operation. And you as well."**

"**Very good," Johann replied with another brief bow. "Follow me."**

**XXXXXX**

**Within fifteen minutes of helping his guests settle in, Johann Krauss made his way back to the Library as fast as the legs of his containment suit could take him. He immediately walked over to where Abe Sapien was floating in his tank, listening dreamily to Chopin's _Grand Valse Brilliante._ He knocked briskly on the glass.**

"_**Guten tag, mein freund!"**_** he cried! "Come out with all haste! We have a delicious mystery to be solved, and I think the results might cheer us both!"**

**It took Abe another fifteen minutes to prepare for a tankless environment. Once his ablutions had been completed, Johann grabbed his arm and hustled him into one of the adjacent surveillance rooms. The screens above them showed the two women assembling their files on a large conference table.**

**Krauss**** explained that two hearing officers from Washington had just arrived and would be hearing the Manning matter in the morning. "But as the Americans say, A****gent Sapien****, I call shenanigans," ****Johann continued****, rubbing his hands together and then pulling ****out two large boxes out from under a nearby table. "And – behold!" Krauss cried. **

**Abe grinned with delight. **

"**The Schufften glasses! Agent Sapien, get them on quickly and tell me what you see!"**

**Abe did so, then looked up to scrutinize the pair. He laughed out loud with joy.**

"**Johann, you won't believe this! The older woman – well, she has a crested and eyeless face and at least a ten-foot eyed wingspread! She looks like Lucine's big sister, you might say! The younger one – well, let me see – "He squinted through the moving lenses and cried out happily. "She looks like some sort of Viking princess. I wonder if she – Johann, wait a minute! I do recall some of my old Norse lore. Is the vehicle they came in outside the building?"**

"**In the parking lot, **_**mein freund,**_**" Krauss returned with a smile. "Just a black government sedan."**

**Abe could barely restrain himself from jumping up and down in place. "Be back soon!" he cried, and off he ran.**

**Johann sat down with a long mechanical sigh of relief. **

**XXXXXXX**

**Before Abe returned from his surveillance of the government car, another B.P.R.D. agent came in with a computer printout. "Here, sir," he said. "This is what we could find on one Dr. Rivka Schiffman."**

"**Thank you, agent," Krauss said, taking the papers and reading them. "Let's see – in addition to being a ****federal administrative law judge****, she is a****lso a**** professor of Assyriology at Yeshiva University. Her research interests include ****the**** rabbinic legal systems of Middle Persia."**

"**Oh, man. That's unusual, to say the least," the agent commented. "Why would they have sent her, anyway?"**

"**Well, it is clear that she is an expert in studying systems of justice. ****I can think of no better credentials, actually. ****Off with you now. Ask the FBI agents if they can put together a list of their names and titles for the hearing."**

**The young man snapped a bow and left the room.**

"**Why indeed," Johann chuckled, pulling out his cellphone.**

**Abe burst into the room. "It's not a sedan, Johann! It's a cat-drawn chariot! The other woman is Freyja, the Norse goddess of beauty and war!" He took off the goggles and fairly danced around the room, clutching them to his blue chest.**

"**Hold on, let's call him together," Krauss said. **

**He punched in a number and waited until Tom Manning picked up.**

"**Good news, **_**mein freund**_**," Krauss ****said****. ****"As they used to say in the old John Wayne movies, the cavalry ****has arrived****!"**


	17. Chapter 17: The Hearing

**CHAPTER 17: THE HEARING**

**It was Sunday morning.**

**In the last few minutes before he had to leave for the hearing, Tom Manning packed a small weekender bag in his apartment. He included a simple navy dress for Lucine, undergarments, a hairbrush (she always forgot to put one in her handbag), the string of cultured pearls he bought for her last month as a surprise, a pair of size five black high-heeled pumps, and a razor blade. He wrapped the latter item in a tissue and slipped it into his pants pocket.**

**If things headed south at the hearing he would use it to slice his wrist, smear the angel banishment sigil on the wall directly behind him as he coolly observed the proceedings, and then slam his palm home upon it.**

_**I'm just an FBI grunt tottering down the road to the old folks' home but I can do at least that much for my angel. No problem.**_

**He felt a twinge of pain, immediately dismissing it as he always did. Reminding himself that he needed to buy more Rolaids, he headed out the door.**

**XXXXXX**

**Earlier, the conference room had been altered to perfection to create a hearing room worthy of any courthouse. One of the older B.P.R.D. agents with skills in shorthand, if not the odd language used by court reporters, was seated and ready. Dr. Schiffman, the administrative law judge, sat at the table, flanked by her Scandinavian counterpart who would serve as hearing officer. It was highly irregular to use an ALJ in what was essentially a criminal matter, but the B.P.R.D. officially didn't exist and the criminal courts were public forums. It made sense that the federal government simply used what it had in order to air its dirty linen privately.**

**There were only a few files on the table because the alleged crime in question had just taken place two days before. The decision this day would be arrived upon by the solicitation of oral testimony and the examination of those who would testify. The only constant in the room besides the three women was Doctor Johann Krauss, who stood with military bearing to one side of the main table. Numerous witnesses – all quite firmly instructed not to discuss the case with one another – milled about outside. **

**Lucine Mal'akha Manning would not be present to testify on her own behalf; she would remain confined and medicated due to a very bad night. ****Johann had not informed Tom because he had been looking a little green lately and he did not want to unduly burden him. Not knowing what else to do for her, Johann had sung **_**"Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf"**_** to her through the containment chamber's com system.**

**The hearing began precisely at ten o'clock.**

**All witnesses were sworn and examined by Administrative Law Judge Doctor Rivka Schiffman.**

**XXXXX**

**FROM THE SWORN STATEMENT OF FRANCIS DAWICKI, FIELD AGENT, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION**

_**When the bullets came flying our way, I returned fire along with the others. During that time, I also saw Mrs. Manning turn and observe Agent Hellboy falling to the floor and Agent Sherman covering him. I saw her turn back toward the direction of the fire and – her face, her expression went – well, sort of blank. Her wings snapped out – one of them caught me in the left arm and knocked me a little off kilter, but I recovered quickly. Then she blinked hard – I only saw the right side of her face, you understand – and a pulse of some sort of energy just rolled off her, almost as if she was standing in water. When it went through me, I had the sensation that I couldn't breathe for a moment. I think my heart might have skipped a beat or two. And that's when I heard the screams of the guys who were shooting at us. **_

_**She stood there until Agent Sapien came up and grabbed her arm. Then she collapsed onto her knees and began crying like crazy. No, I don't think she meant to do it, Judge. Not at all.**_

**FROM THE SWORN STATEMENT OF DOCTOR JOHANN KRAUSS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, BUREAU OF PARANORMAL RESEARCH AND DEFENSE**

_**Naturally, our investigation is in its preliminary stages but I feel confident in sharing our findings with you, and they are telling. We found evidence in the form of computer files on several of the decedents indicating that a dirty bomb attack was planned for Saturday – that is, yesterday – at the **__**Westfield Garden State Plaza**__** shopping mall. It is an enormous place, full of people. **_

_**If Lucine Manning hadn't **__**neutralized this threat**__** Friday night, we would have heard about yet another terrorist attack yesterday. She has not only saved eight million New Yorkers, but she also saved all those moms and kids and giggling teenage girls and shop clerks and toddlers in strollers whose parents would, but for her, be planning their funerals at this very moment. Thank you.**_

**FROM THE SWORN STATEMENT OF ABRAHAM SAPIEN, FIELD AGENT, BUREAU OF PARANORMAL RESEARCH AND DEFENSE**

_**Judge, I thank you ahead of time for permitting me to speak. One of the things I do at the Bureau is work as an empath. This is an agent who figuratively gets inside the emotions of a being we need to learn more about. My gifts allow me to do all that and more.**_

_**I first met the individual we call Lucine when my best friend had been mortally wounded by an enemy in a faraway land. You wouldn't have heard about it. I stood outside the door of the place where Lucine took the blade out of his chest – it was about to pierce his heart, you see – so quickly that you couldn't see her do it. It was one of the most amazing things I ever saw. And the whole time I could just feel these huge waves of power running off her. But back then, our Lucine had none of what we would call human feelings. Everything she did, she did out of whatever sense of obligation she had towards him. I got the feeling that she had been that way for ages.**_

_**Now, let me tell you about the Lucine whose arm I grasped after the deaths Friday night. She was nothing but compassion, and regret, and shame, and fear, and sadness. That is what rolled off her Friday night. But the thing I sensed the most in her was love – her love for Hellboy – he's like her kid, you know – and her terror that he wasn't going to make it because someone had shot him right in front of her.**_

_**In a way, it was like both Lucines were there Friday night, just for a moment. Both loved him and both saved him, because both of them absolutely had to do so at the cost of their own soul.**_

_**And that, Judge, is why I think she did it. Thank you for taking the time to listen to me, her friend.**_

**FROM THE SWORN STATEMENT OF ELIZABETH SHERMAN, FIELD AGENT, BUREAU OF PARANORMAL RESEARCH AND DEFENSE**

_**Your Honor, it wasn't too long ago that we came across this busted-up angel that demons had cut to pieces and then set on fire because she saved my Red's life. Red is Hellboy, by the way. She was nearly dead but a friend of ours, Hela from Niflheim, fixed her up the best she could. **_

_**Excuse me, I'm really nervous.**_

_**You should have seen poor Lucine. She didn't know how to put on a pair of shoes, or eat her dinner, or how to go to sleep at night. But she was so cheerful and happy to be alive because Red was okay, and because she got to see him at work now and then. I mean, all those two do is squabble but it's kind of cute. She loves him in a way I can't begin to understand. I love him as a man, but she loves his soul and his fate.**_

_**As for Friday night, I only looked up when she snapped her wings and shocked those creeps to death, but I did see her cry her eyes out right after she did it. My heart broke for her. Lucine hasn't gotten anything but the short end of the stick from Heaven, I think, but she keeps trying to do the right thing for all us dumb humans and for the man I love with all my heart. And you know what? I love Lucine with all my heart, too. Please, please, please don't put her away!**_

**FROM THE SWORN STATEMENT OF DOCTOR THOMAS MANNING, FBI LIAISON TO BUREAU OF PARANORMAL RESEARCH AND DEFENSE**

_**I freely admit to you, Judge, that I could have done a better job of securing the site. I am compelled to make that statement as someone who has enjoyed a thirty-plus year career in the FBI. It was a bad call.**_

_**I had been asked by several associates of mine in Quantico to allow the FBI agents you spoke with earlier to handle it. And no, Judge, I will not reveal their names unless compelled. I allowed them to do so. However, it is undeniable that I am the one who bears responsibility for the situation faced by my agents Friday night. If it is your desire to punish me for it, then you certainly have the discretion to do so. I would rather lose my job right now than see Lucine go through any more heartache because she did what she felt she had to do to protect others.**_

_**I want to state for the record that the most talented and powerful person I have ever met – my Lucine – went into that warehouse Friday night with the intention of exorcising a few demons, at best. She can do that without breaking a sweat, and that's why I brought her along. For that reason, plus I hadn't seen her all day and just wanted to see her face.**_

_**It is a matter of public knowledge that ISIS has been allied with dark forces for some time now. If you choose, you can also take judicial notice of the fact that if Lucine hadn't been voluntarily present at One Trade Center last October 17, you and I and everyone else within a seventy-five mile radius of New York City would be dead as a result of the nuclear blast or from radiation sickness. In other words, Judge, if not for Lucine the Messenger, we would not be having this conversation.**_

_**The deaths attributed to her Friday night occurred solely because some scumbag put a slug into the man she swore to protect hundreds of years ago. It was the scumbag's fault, not hers. She did what she has been doing for centuries and that is protecting the entity we know as Agent Hellboy, even at the cost of her own life and career. And for this reason and many more besides, I salute her, and I love her, and I couldn't be more proud of her. If you lock her away from the world because of this screw-up, you're not the professional I take you for. Thank you.**_

**FROM THE SWORN STATEMENT OF "HELLBOY", FIELD AGENT, BUREAU OF PARANORMAL RESEARCH AND DEFENSE**

_**Look, ladies or judges. I'm not sure of the proper terms. I'm not any sort of speaker at all. All I know is that little flying pain-in-the-butt sitting in a level ten containment chamber has kept me alive my entire life. I can't even keep track of how many times she pulled me out of Hell, trying to save my soul. For what, I'm not sure. She held me as a baby and it marked me somehow so that the demons couldn't quite get their hooks into me. Every time I could have headed south, she pulled me up and out. Now they're trying to stick her in prison. This is the gal who saved New York and everybody in it not too damn long ago, excuse me.**_

_**What happened Friday night was because she saw me get hit with a bullet and she couldn't take it. She just couldn't take it. And she did what every guardian angel wished they could do if they had the kind of juice that a death angel has. **_**Bam! **_**Down those punks went. And good riddance. We would have all been cut down where we stood and shot dead if she hadn't done it.**_

_**I don't know what else to say, except she is the closest thing to a mother that I've ever had and I would hate like hell – excuse me again – to see her punished for taking care of me. Well, I guess that's enough, unless you want me to keep talking for some reason.**_

**XXXXXX**

**ALJ Schiffman thanked the witnesses and excused them. She deliberated until four-forty-five pm, and then announced her decision.**


	18. Chapter 18: Angels in Strange Places

**CHAPTER 18: ANGELS IN STRANGE PLACES**

"**Wonderful news!" cried Abe Sapien. "Not guilty! The judge decided that Lucine was acting in defense of herself and others. Johann let her out of the containment chamber and they actually hugged. Which is fortunate, actually," Abe mused, "considering that Lucine could have planted him on the dark side of a distant asteroid."**

"**Time-to-par-tay," Hellboy cried. "I hated that testifying crap." He left to locate his stash of beer and bring it to the Library.**

**Liz laughed. "I was so nervous. I kept thinking I was going to flame up and torch the judge."**

**Abe laughed. "Tom and Lucine will be in soon. They're still in the conference room."**

**XXXXXXX**

**Tom was seated in a chair and Lucine was on his lap. She knew it was indecorous of her but she didn't care and neither did he. She was wearing the outfit he had brought her and was wrapping her beloved pearls around her fingers. No one but Tom had ever bought her anything, let alone something so beautiful.**

"**Hello," said Astrid Njorddottir to them both.**

**They looked up to see her jeweled necklace twinkling under the collar of her business suit. "I assume you know who I am. I mean, who else would come here in a cat chariot?" **

"**Freyja, we presume," Tom said.**

"**Yes indeed. And what a nice looking human you have, angel. Ullr and Hela are in Iceland with Surtr, of all people, keeping an eye on the volcano Kverkfjoll," she said to Lucine with a smile. "Actually, Loki sent me to cover for her. I can't stand him but the kid is all right. Anyway, glad all is well. I'll give her your love. Don't blow my cover, cookie." She winked. Before Lucine could say a word, the Norse goddess strode out of the conference room and was lost to sight. She hurried to the parking lot, because hungry cats are unhappy cats.**

**Dr. Schiffman then came over to them and whispered to Lucine, "Thank Heaven that you kept a straight face a moment ago when you saw me!" **

"**Tzadkiel, thank you so much!"**

"**No worries. We haven't treated you very well over the years because of the Anung Un Rama thing and I'm sorry for it. Dr. Manning, you're coming with me. Right now."**

**He raised his eyebrows in astonishment. Lucine stood up but remained quiet. She knew better than to hiss at an an angel as elevated as Tzadkiel.**

"**Um – I'm flattered – but – ?"**

"**Be quiet now, both of you. Dr. Manning, you are about half an hour from a major heart attack. That's why I hurried that decision along." Tzadkiel laid her hand on his shoulder and a shock went through him, making him gasp. "I just dissolved the clot that would have done you in. But a few more are knocking around in there, and a good friend of mine is a cardiac surgeon at Mt. Sinai. I called him and he's on his way over there now to take care of you. We need to leave now. And Lucine the Protector, good to see you." She laid her hand on Lucine's bony little shoulder, dissolving all her scars from the demon attack. Lucine's golden eyes grew huge but she was careful not to react. **

**Tzadkiel grabbed Tom's arm and began pulling him down the hall. "I'm giving him a ride back to the City," she explained to the few onlookers who had hung around. Lucine ran after them; she grabbed Tom by his other arm and spun him around. "You will not die," she whispered. "It is not your time, dear Tom. When it is, I will take you to Heaven and stay with you there, if you still want me. I will see you soon." She kissed him, then released him into the care of her sister angel. The elevator opened. Tzadkiel – aka Dr. Schiffman – punched the elevator button hard in her haste to reach the hospital, closing it between them.**

**Lucine's heart thumped hard as she realized that her husband was sick and that she was well. **

**She ran to find her friends; she desperately needed them. In her haste, she tripped a little, and stopped long enough to kick off her black pumps and run down the corridor without them.**

**XXXXXX**

"**Did you really think antacids were the answer for the kind of pain you were having?" Tzadkiel asked Dr. Manning once the elevator had released them and they were on their way to the exit. "Human males are totally without insight."**

**Tom grimaced. "Listen, I can't thank you enough for saving us. I – "**

**He stopped short in his little speech, distracted as he was by the sight of the B.P.R.D.'s general counsel striding toward them. Tom frowned. The guy had been sniffing around all day, hoping that Manning's wife would end up in the clink and Manning himself would take it in the teeth.**

**Tom stopped abruptly, sticking his finger in the lawyer's chest. "Hey, chump change. You're fired. Clear out by ten pm or I'll have security throw you out."**

**The man stared at him, his jaw hanging open. "You – you can't do that!" he shrieked.**

"**Guess again, pal," Tom replied, continuing down the corridor.**

"**Ah, a dominance display between human males!" Tzadkiel observed. "Was that necessary, considering that your heart is ready to explode?" **

"**Abso-frigging-lutely," Tom snapped, wishing that he could fire up a cigar but realizing that his cigar, steak, and partying days were probably over.**

**XXXXXXX**

**A party of a different kind was going on in the Library. Someone had set up their IPod and "We No Speak Americano" by Yolanda Be Cool and DCup was blasting loudly. Hellboy handed Lucine a beer. She sipped it and made a face. **

"**Tastes like that grain they used to grow in Canaan," she said.**

"**Hope the old man is going to be OK," Red said.**

"**He will be. Tzadkiel broke up the big clot but I guess he's got others."**

"**Ah, coronary surgery," Abe sighed. "Such an ordeal. Well, we'll all be there for him during his recovery."**

**A tall slender man wearing a security badge entered the Library. Only Lucine saw his wings, although they were not as magnificent as her own.**

"**Sachiel,**** is that you?" Lucine cried. "I haven't seen you since we hid the Ark of the Covenant!" Lucine spoke in Enochian; ****otherwise, ****Abe Sapien ****would have ****been so thrilled to spasms that he would have fallen to the floor****.**

"**You are commanded to stay here and relax. Your hu****man ****will successfully complete a procedure called an angioplasty****. We have two angels at his head, two at his feet. Nothing ****bad**** will happen to him. Now, crack me a brewski."**

**XXXXXX**

**It was late in the evening at Mt. Sinai, ****and Tom had been taken from recovery back to his private room.**

**Hellboy entered ****to join his friends****. The angel standing guard at the right shoulder of the sleeping patient bristled in indignation at the sight of him.**

"**Turn away your wrathful gaze, Baruchiel! This demon is my Anung Un Rama; do not even think of smiting him!" Lucine hissed, and muttered something to him in Enochian.**

"**What did you just say?" Red asked her. She cupped her hand and whispered into his ear; he burst out laughing. "I didn't know angels swore."**

"**You'd be surprised," Lucine replied, then frowned as the angel shot back his angry reply.**

"**What did he say?" Hellboy inquired.**

**Lucine shrugged. "Well, let's see. First he called me a plague upon Heaven. Then he said that you were lucky he wasn't Iaoth, who would have blasted you first and asked questions later. Then he called me by my nickname."**

"**Which is?"**

**Lucine wrinkled her nose. "Translated, it means Little Dirty One."**

**Red broke out laughing; Liz shushed him so that he wouldn't wake Tom.**

"**They call me that because I lived in grimy old Bethmoora for so long."**

"**I noticed that none of them are real friendly to you," Abe said. "I would have imagined that you all would be brothers and sisters in arms."**

"**I am not exactly beloved of Heaven for being the guardian and death of a demon," Lucine sighed. "Actually, I am rather a disgrace because I lived underground for four hundred years, hiding from devils and waiting around for him to show up." She jerked her thumb at Hellboy. "Marrying a human. Appearing on YouTube. That sort of thing." She sighed.**

"**How do you think I feel," Red joked, "having a mom called Little Dirty One?" He hugged her. "Aw, whatever, Lucine. Looks like we're stuck with one another."**

**She sighed and settled into his embrace. "Indeed. And I prefer being called Little Dirty One to Angel Sweetie Lips." She dug him in the side with her sharp little elbow. "Actually, the thing that infuriates them the most is that I was defeated by demons. That is unforgivable. What they expected of me, I have no idea. I was nearly twenty thousand years old at the time and don't recall them flying in with their flaming swords to fend them off."**

**The angel at Tom's left foot then entered the fray, speaking angrily to Lucine. She returned the insult as handily as a tennis player returns a serve. The three visitors settled back, quite entertained by this battle between angels. The exchange raged on for at least two minutes. Tom slept on, oblivious. Abe's head went back and forth, not unlike an observer at a tennis match, as he tried to figure out their syntax and vocabulary.**

**Lucine translated for her friends. "Haniel told me not to cuddle up with you as it is unseemly to consort with devils. Then he said I was fallen but Heaven just hadn't gotten around to casting me out yet. He also said that I was a fool for living with a pile of mud with stuck pipes. Tom, he meant. I told him – well. Never mind."**

**The angel at Tom's right foot then made herself known, chattering away at the others and waving her arms for emphasis. Lucine laughed. Abe was beside himself trying to figure out Enochian grammar.**

"**Well, what was all that about?" Liz asked.**

"**Oh, that is Lahabiel. She is an authority on the demon hosts and knows that Anung Un Rama is not your everyday devil. She said that he is trying to walk in the path of Light and that they should be ashamed of themselves and that they should shut their nasty mouths."**

"**I wish I could understand your language," Abe sighed.**

"**It is not as glorious as it sounds," Lucine replied. "Look, Tom is waking up!" She made her way over to him.**

"**Hello my Tom," she said quietly. "I am here to welcome you back." She took his hand.**

"**Where was I?" the groggy man replied. **

"**I am not sure," Lucine replied. "I tried to find you but could not. It was a comfort for me to know that you were nowhere near the place of the dead."**

"**When I saw you, I thought I was in Heaven," Tom slurred. He turned his head and looked at Hellboy. "Or am I in Hell?"**

"**Ha-ha, very funny," Red said. "Did Lucine give you that heart attack?" **

**At this, the angels snickered. Lucine reached across Tom and punched him.**

"**Attacked once again by Little Dirty Sweetie Lips," Hellboy laughed, feinting as if he was dodging a ferocious assault.**

"**Oh, Red," Liz groaned.**

"**I am going to kick you in the throat," Lucine hissed, then turned back to Tom. "The doctor said you did very well, and they cleaned out your pipes good as new."**

"**No – more – cigars or cream cake," Tom slurred to her. "You're pretty."**

"**You're stoned," Hellboy interjected.**

"**You're dead," Lucine retorted.**

"**Uh, hello, Tom," Abe interjected, coming over by Hellboy and patting his boss's shoulder. "Heh. Glad you're back with us."**

"**Am I at the bottom of the sea?" Tom quipped and not very well as he was still under the influence of anesthesia.**

"**Glub," said Abe. He was a sport. "Well, everything is back to normal back at the Bureau. All waiting for you when you feel better. Except for the lawyer, whom you fired."**

**Tom broke into a grin. "Well, that's a nasty piece of work out the door. Who are all of these people?" he murmured, noticing the angels for the first time. They were all in business attire so he was not sure if he was in the hospital or a Bureau conference room. He was very confused.**

"**They are the angels Dr. Schiffman posted to watch over you during your surgery," Abe continued. "I assume they were invisible in the operating room or the doctors would have given them the bum's rush. Some of them like your Lucine and some don't."**

**Tom struggled to sit up, then lay back down as Lucine pushed down on his shoulder. "Those who don't like her, get out," he slurred. "I am far too weak to kick them out myself."**

"**Fine," replied Baruchiel, who vanished. Haniel followed him. Lucine hissed an Enochian imprecation after them both. **

**The other two angels laughed out loud.**

"**Oh, now what does that mean?" Abe inquired excitedly. Hellboy forked the "loser" sign over his forehead. Liz slapped it away. **

"**I told them they were part dog and part crocodile. In Enochian, it is very bad. In English, not so much."**

"**Everybody out," the nurse said, charging into the room like a bull moose. "Out, out, out. Too many visitors, not enough rest." **

**Red and Liz began to move toward the door, but Hellboy had to deliver his parting shot to his guardian angel. "Everyone but Little Angel Dirty Lips," he cracked. **

**Lucine picked up a plastic pitcher and threw it at him. It hit him squarely in the chest. Tom laughed, then cringed in pain.**

"**You with the wings! Out!" the nurse shrieked.**

**It was just as well. The next day was Monday and everyone but Tom had to go back to work. Lucine did not plan to share the highlights of her weekend with her employer. Instead, she would contact Hela to help her find a nice quiet place – where Tom could heal and she could tend him – where they could just let the world spin without them for a while. **

**After all, even in the eyes of Heaven she was Lucine the Protector.**


	19. Chapter 19:A Loser in the Eyes of Heaven

**CHAPTER 19: A LOSER IN THE EYES OF HEAVEN**

**Abraham Sapien loved to read.**

**He loved languages, maps, incantations, histories, legends, mythologies, and religions of all types and from all cultures. Throughout his long life, he had many opportunities to handle and assimilate the knowledge that one only gets from crumbling tablets – or timeworn parchments – or from the scraps of knowledge imparted by civilizations long lost to the world in whatever form they survived. **

**This is why he lived in Professor Broom's library. Existing in the very presence of such treasures encompassed within the hard covers of the multitude of volumes it held enriched Abe's life immeasurably. Even when he was in the water tank so thoughtfully built just for him, he could still keep them in view and dream about the wonders they contained. He had already read thousands of books, but there were thousands more to go. This prospect pleased him a great deal and gave added meaning to his rather solitary life.**

**Still more beloved to Abe were the books not yet cataloged; the ones still in the unlabeled crates that had been rather carelessly stored on the orders of Dr. Thomas Manning after the death of their owner. They were housed in a large closet within the Library itself, stacked floor to ceiling in a room five feet wide and three feet deep and twelve feet high. On occasion and during free moments (which were rare, considering his workload) Abe would poke through them, selecting a crumbling volume and carefully turning its pages, relishing the smell of the aged parchment, his large eyes focused on each character and illustration, and his astonishing brain taking in every morsel and every jot of knowledge they contained.**

**Some of the books in Dr. Broom's collection were hundreds of years old and Abe's discovery of one of the oldest had recently thrilled him beyond words. It was such a treasure that he dared not mention its existence to his friends or – even more imperatively – to his boss. **

**If Dr. Manning found out about it, he would no doubt instantly snatch it from Abe's hands and share it with the mucky-mucks at the Smithsonian. Abe could just imagine Manning among a small crowd at some Washington D.C. cocktail party, gabbing on and on about a book he could certainly read but hardly understand. At least not at the deep level of understanding with which Abraham Sapien was capable. **

"**So long as I have oxygen in my gills," he thought, "no one will take this book away from me." **

**He read it after hours; sometimes staying up all night to read and translate its contents.**

**It was a 1539 tome published in Florence, Italy that described the Enochian language – the language of Heaven itself. Since it was written in archaic Greek, it had taken Abe quite a while to pick his painstaking way through it. **

_**What a thrill! **_

_**What a find!**_

**How delighted his friend Lucine would be when he was finally able to greet her in her own tongue!**

**XXXXX**

**Lucine, on the other hand, had been busy these past weeks with her latest photo shoot for One World Trade Center. The most recent campaign had featured her in an Alexander McQueen draped bustier gown (which neatly lay in back beneath the roots of her wings) in a vivid green. She adored the makeup they put on her as it reminded her of the times she had observed the Egyptian women painting themselves with kohl, and how fine it had looked in the light of fiery Nile sunsets. Since she was thin, she modeled the clothes she was given to wear with ease, although clothes bored her. Boredom was nothing, however, compared with the joy she felt when she realized that the money from her efforts would make Tom's life more comfortable.**

**The ad agency no longer had to photoshop her exposed skin since the removal of her scars by the angel Tzadkiel made it unnecessary. The only thing they had to airbrush out these days was Lucine's perpetual scowl. Perpetual, that is, unless she was in the presence of Dr. Thomas Manning; often, the ad agency brought him on set just to get a smile out of her. **

**Lucine the Messenger was distrustful of Heaven and Earth alike and feared Hell with an unreasoning terror. She had lived too many years in hardship and deprivation and loneliness to be anything other than what she was. It was hard for mortal folk to understand this about her. Lucine would only smile for Tom Manning, and that was the way of things.**

**During the evenings, she had recently made a habit of visiting the B.P.R.D. airplane hangar to practice what Tom called "night maneuvers". Instead of practicing her flying skills out in the open, where some nut job might take yet another pot shot at her and drop dead, she chose this quiet and private location instead. Of course, the flying skills of an angel – especially in celestial combat – were of great interest to the Bureau. In fact, there were five observers on hand this night, recording her efforts and trying to figure out the aerodynamics of her far-seeing wings. **

**The agents did not understand that Lucine flew for the sheer delightful exhilaration of it. It reminded her of her days as a young thing with great prospects in Heaven, long before she had become such a monumental disappointment to her superiors. Back then, her wings shone like the glossy wings of a raven and her long black hair flew behind her in a perfect arc. She had been something to fear as she had ceaselessly surveyed the endless miles of desert in the Middle East, searching out and smiting the demons who threatened the Twelve Tribes. Nowadays, she was something far less, but at least she could remember.**

**Tom and Abe watched her from the hangar entrance. A loudspeaker piped in the London Symphony Orchestra's rendition of ****_Clair de Lune_**** and Lucine moved to the music about thirty feet off the ground in a series of barrel-rolls, spins, and dives. At one point she dropped straight down and only avoided breaking her neck by five inches or so before she pulled up and nearly clipped a prop plane with her left wing. Predictably, Tom gasped and clutched his head.**

"**Oh my God, Lucine. You're going to give me another coronary," he said, half to Abe and half to himself. "Last month she crash-landed and smashed that beautiful nose. Bled like hell all over the place. Good thing she landed on that wadded-up mat over there. I wish she would stop; the stress is killing me." **

**Unable to stand any more, Manning briskly approached her and waved her down. After she landed, they had a connubial discussion that took at least four or five minutes and was accompanied by emphatic hand wavings by each party. Eventually, Lucine spun on her heels and folded her wings back with a snap. Wiping her forehead with her sleeve, she approached Abe with her characteristic wobbling walk. Even with all the physical therapy the Bureau had to offer, Lucine still walked a little bit like a drunkard.**

"**That Tom Manning thinks that I am a baby," she cried to Abe. "He does not want me to dive straight down. I told him that this is the way to pin a demon – from above, when they cannot hear or see you in time. He said there are no demons in the hangar, at least as far as he could see, and he would thank me very politely if I stopped torturing him."**

**Abe grinned. "And what did you say?"**

**Lucine grinned back. "I told him that I would give up night maneuvers when he gave up his firearms collection."**

"**Did it end the debate?"**

"**No," she grinned. "but I will stop for his sake. It is wonderful to see you." She gave the blue man a hug. He placed his palm against her back and assured himself that at least the human portion of his friend was in fine fettle. Tom caught up with them, mopping his pate with his handkerchief. "Really. Lucine. Honey. I don't want to end up with angels at my head and heels again."**

**She turned to him and hugged him. "Take a breath, my Tom," she said quietly. "I will not do it any more if it scares you. But please know that it does not scare me. It is also a good thing that you did not see me enter Hell when I went to recover Anung un Rama. Now, that was something to fear."**

**Tom rolled his eyes and smoothed her ruffled hair. "Fishstick, living with this one is like being on that awful roller coaster outside Kansas City. Thrilling but terrifying at the same time!"**

**As Tom and Lucine gathered up their things to go home, Abe said his farewells, eager to return to the Library and continue his reading.**

**XXXXXXX**

**It made perfect sense that Lucine gave up her aerobatics as soon as she learned it frightened her husband. Why do something that was counterproductive to her main task in life; that of helping Tom recover from his heart procedure? She had appropriated his mother's cookbook and was trying her best to prepare meals (heart healthy, of course) that he would enjoy. His parents were dead and he had loved them and had spent most of his savings paying for their last illnesses. Feeding him dishes that reminded him of them was the least Lucine could do.**

**XXXXXXX**

**It was several weeks after Lucine's last night maneuver, and today** **had been an exciting day for Abraham Sapien. He had no pressing assignments and spent the entire day working on his translation. He was supposed to go to dinner at the Mannings tomorrow but had turned it down, even though he would miss a delicious meal of **_**Gedempte Fleisch, **_**salad, and parsleyed new potatoes.**

**After he had completed his work and reviewed his translation, he had found the security tape from Tom's hospital stay on the computer (as a top B.P.R.D. official, the Bureau had filmed every aspect of his medical care including the operation itself. Abe skipped that part.). **

**The blue man grinned as he jotted down the conversation between Lucine and Haniel. It had been rather heated and had lasted quite a while; he was amused by his own motions in the tape, his head swinging back and forth between the two speakers in his eagerness to understand. **

_**Well, now I can!**_

**Once he had written down the words in Enochian, he set about the task of translation. He then rewrote it in a narrative that would flow in the language of English as best he could.**

**Four hours later, he lay down his papers, his webbed hands shaking. **

**"Oh my God, Lucine," he whispered to himself.**

**XXXXXX**

**Abe slept fitfully in his tank until the following day, then silently re-entered the Library. He heard the Bureau's employees stirring around him but it hardly distracted him. Upset beyond expression, he was already deep into his reading of the real conversation between Haniel and Lucine.**

"_**You betrayer of Heaven! You curse!"**_

"_**Blasphemer! You know that it was not our fault; it was so ruled by Heaven itself!"**_

"_**What part of Heaven, you abomination? Not the part from which I come. Not the part where honorable angels reside. It is entirely your fault that this demon – this Anung un Rama – exists. No corpse can give birth in Hell! The dullest of creatures knows that!" **_

"_**It was not our fault, I tell you! We were waylaid and captured, Ephraim and I, and none of the Heavenly host came to our aid! We were dragged into Hell screaming and begging for our lives. Hundreds of demons held us! Hundreds!"**_

"_**No one comes from Heaven to rescue death angels, you fool. Millions of you were created and millions more will still be created as the old world grinds on and mortals die and die and die. You are so expendable that you are not even graced with names! Tzadkiel is already in great difficulty with Heaven for rescuing you from your latest mass slaughter! She will be punished and you will never be rescued again."**_

"_**No! Oh, please, Haniel! I beseech you! Spare her any pain for her mercy!"**_

"_**It is not up to me! And leave it to you, you broken-down string of carrion and gristle, to allow them to attack you and Ephraim in the first place. Weak and useless! They killed him, tearing away his life-force. What did you do to save him?"**_

"_**I do not have to justify myself to you! I was bound by enchantments that even my most fervent prayers could not break. I beseeched Heaven for rescue and no help came! They tortured us for months! Once they sucked Ephraim dry, they turned to me and stole away what they could. From that, they caused the corpse of that unfortunate human to conceive a live child. How else do you explain my condition by the time I fled to Bethmoora?"**_

"_**I care not for your condition, you withered old fraud. Even dressed up in human meat I can still see your pathetic and helpless soul. No one in Heaven forgets that they kept you bound in Hell for a year, and that is why no angel of any consequence trusts you except that stupid Tzadkiel, who will pay for her folly!"**_

"_**I was kept in dread captivity, Haniel! They drained off bits and pieces of my life-force, leaving me as dry as a used-up husk! As the child grew, I grew weaker. But do not forget, you pompous idiot, that it was me who held the child and infused him with what was left of my grace!"**_

"_**Not that it did much good, fool! He is still a demon in form and may still be the one who destroys this realm. It is your fault! I tell you that it was all done through you!"**_

"_**No! I tried to rescue him! I broke free and grabbed onto an imp and dug the sigil into its breast with my finger! Right as I was expelled from Hell, I gripped Anung un Rama tight to save him!"**_

"_**Of course, you even failed in that regard!"**_

"_**When I returned to Heaven I found that the Hand of Doom had bound him to Hell. It was not my fault, Haniel! And you know that I tried time and again to rescue him, and now here he is in this very room, not a demonic presence at all but a believer in the Almighty! Curse me all you want but that is the end result of all my suffering! He is not the curse of the world at all, but a doer of good! He is a fine man and I will protect him until the last of my life-force is sucked away forever!"**_

"_**That may be sooner rather than later if the demons get hold of you. If you enter Hell again, the sigil will not work and Hell will finally claim its own, fallen one! You waste of Heaven's grace! If I had the power, I would let this human before me pass away to escape your clutches!" **_

"_**Haniel, stop! Do not hurt my Tom!"**_

"_**Let your new wings fly you to Hell! Cursed! Cursed! Cursed!"**_

**XXXXXX**

**If Abe Sapien could have wept, he would have. In any event, he was sick to his stomach over his friend's pain. The enmity and the viciousness of Haniel's word had stunned him. However, Abe was Abe and he did not dwell long in the house of emotions when his own dearest friends were involved and there was something he could do.**

**He looked at Dr. Broom's old clock. The day had flown and it was now eight o'clock in the evening.**

**XXXXXXX**

**Unlike Abe, Liz and Red had accepted their dinner invitation tonight and all four of them had done their best to make the food and wine disappear completely.**

"**That was delicious," Liz said, checking on the sleeping children in their portable crib. "How was your day, Lucine? I hardly spoke to you since I was too busy gobbling like a hog."**

**The former angel of death sighed. "I was here and there today. I lost a perfectly good shoe flying over the East River," she continued. "I went over to the Bureau because Johann had wanted to see me. **_**'Looocine, Liebchen,' **_**he said –"Everyone laughed at the angel's fairly accurate rendition of his Austrian accent – "**_**'You know how ve esteeeeeeem you around here, but strikingk your enemies dead does not-ting for our evvorts to interrogate dem and learn about deir operations – '**_** "Lucine stopped to laugh. "And then I told him that it was a very pretty way of telling me that I am a terrible field agent, which I already knew. It stopped him in his tracks but he just shook his head, telling me he wanted to use me in **_**'uddher capacities'**_**, as he said!"**

"**Odd, considering that just a while ago he had you cooling your pretty heels in a containment chamber," Tom groused. "I sat here in this apartment, suffering every second you were locked up. I know it was protocol but it still rankles me. It probably brought on that heart attack." It would take Tom Manning donkey's years to forget Lucine's travails. **

"**Now, my Tom," Lucine responded, picking up a couple of handfuls of dirty dishes. "I did smite thirteen evildoers. He did what he had to do in accordance with the dictates of your society. I myself do not understand it. Good is bad and wrong is right and the smiters are punished even more severely than the rightfully smitten. Your government would have executed me for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, I think, let alone for the ten plagues of Egypt."**

"**Did you really do that, Lucine?" Hellboy asked, trying to hide his unease.**

"**I complied with orders. Always. Angels exercise no free will, unless we want to be tossed from Heaven. It wasn't just me, of course. It took seven of us to get the job done."**

**There was an uncomfortable silence as nobody really wanted to think about the slaying of the firstborn of Egypt.**

"**Who wants ice cream?" cried Tom in a feeble attempt to change the subject. He didn't want to dwell on his wife's former life as **_**mal'ach ha mavet**_** if he could help it, because that scared him even worse than her reckless flying.**

**Lucine looked at him. "We cannot eat ice cream. The ice cream has all been consumed. You ate it all last night. That kind made with the green nuts." She turned to her guests, "I cannot keep it in the house. Two o'clock in the morning and my Tom is eating ice cream out of a soup bowl."**

"**No strain, buddy," Red said, standing. "No pain. I need to stretch my legs anyway. I'll go get some."**

**Liz frowned. "You just want a cigar."**

**Tom smiled. "Enjoy it for me, pal. I've sworn off."**

"**Will do. Come on, Lucine," Hellboy said, extending his hand to her. "Let's go around the block. The deli has pistachio, I think."**

"**And cigars," Liz groused.**

**XXXXXX**

**Abe Sapien sat in the Library, tormenting himself over what to do next. **

**Although he was temporarily paralyzed by indecision, his impressive mind immediately came to several conclusions. The first was that if Lucine hadn't actually birthed Hellboy, she was as close to a mother as anyone could have been. It was really rather astonishing to realize that although he was half demon, Red was probably nearly half angel. This was helpful, of course, as Lucine's angelic essence had probably kept Red from going rogue. At least so far. Hellboy truly was hers. Lucine's ****obsession with him became easier for Abe to understand now.**

**The second was Abe's realization that in spite of her outward appearance these days, Lucine was still quite debilitated and her angelic powers were greatly diminished. Although her scars were gone and she at least passed as human, she was still far from the angel Heaven had created so long ago.**

**The third was that if Lucine was ever defeated by demons again, she would not be coming back to Heaven or Earth or any other place that was sane and good and wholesome. She would be lost to everyone who cared for her forever. Hellboy would most likely be lost to the forces of evil without her to meet him at each crossroad. Tom would definitely be lost; Lucine's permanent disappearance would probably kill him. The poor old guy wouldn't even get to enjoy his pension before his ticker blew for the last time.**

_**Bad all around. **_

_**Really bad.**_

**Abe punched in Tom's phone number to reach Lucine (although she enjoyed using the Internet functions of the hand machine – as she called it – the complicated maneuverings associated with using the rest of a cell phone defeated her). **

"**Boss, it's Abe. Lucine there?"**

"**She just went out with Agent Hellboy on an ice cream run. We missed you tonight!"**

"**Um – if it's not too late, may I stop by?"**

"**You'll be just in time for pistachio. Come on ahead!"**

**After he ended the call, Abe stuffed his papers into his utility belt. "If the demons get to her one more time, she's gone," he fretted, racing for the door.**

**XXXXXX**

**Hellboy and Lucine had nearly reached their destination when a cloud of what at first appeared to be smoke emerged from a nearby partly-open manhole.**

"**It's them, it's them!" Lucine cried. "Beware!" She threw her thin little arm across his chest.**

**Hellboy immediately unsheathed his Big Baby and pointed it at the amorphous mass, which was now resolving itself into discernible figures.**

"**That gun will do you no good," Lucine cried. "They are here to finish me, and to drag you to Hell! Anung un Rama, you must defend yourself!"**

**Hellboy's horns began to grow and an undulating patch of flame began to smolder between them. Lucine's wings snapped out, eyes wide open, and she drew upon every bit of spiritual and physical energy within her spare frame to fight what she realized could be her last battle. An ominous and inhuman hiss escaped her throat as she bared her teeth, ready to attack.**

"**Hello, Destroyer," intoned a grinning demon, approaching her. "We've missed you ever so much."**

"**Get away from her," cried Anung un Rama, his Hellboy **_**persona**_** forgotten. He raised his great stone fist in defense of his friend.**

"**That is as useless as the gun you just brandished at us," another demon hissed with a hard chuckle. "So long as you wear the cross of the Christ-followers, you are no ruler of ours." With a sudden movement it darted forward, snatching the flame away from Hellboy's head. Faster than anything earthly could move, it whipped around and set Lucine's dress and hair on fire.**

"**Is it you who will die tonight, Destroyer? You or your big red hell-child?" it cried joyfully, dancing about them. "Let's play!" **


	20. Chapter 20: Fires of Hell and Muspelheim

**CHAPTER 20: THE FIRES OF HELL AND MUSPELHEIM**

**Hellboy was swarmed by demons within seconds. They slashed into him with their teeth and their claws and whatever instruments they had dredged up from Hell; some of these implements of pain were still smoking hot when they cut into Hellboy's flesh. Their demonic orders had been clear; they were to incapacitate him and bring him back home. They were also ordered to set the angel on fire and to make sure she was dead this time.**

**Two of the demons had picked up Big Baby and had flung it across the street with a loud clang. Red frantically swung at his attackers to no effect. They were not quite solid and not quite liquid; they moved away from his blows like fluid. **

_**How do you kill these things?**_** he thought, trying to tear them off his face so he could see clearly enough to rescue Lucine. He could hear her screaming. He could not imagine her terror at being set aflame once again. **

**A sonic boom of unknown origin cracked through his ears and shook his body. A shimmering disturbance altered the air in front of him and resolved into two figures. One was a tall dark-haired man wearing a horned helmet and a flowing green cape. The other was a small woman with a long black gown and a golden crown; there was something wrong with half her face. **

_**"Hidey ho, bitches!"**_** screamed Loki the trickster god. **_**"How about playing with me instead?" **_**The being held out his palm, upon which a greenish flame danced. His daughter Hela swooped over to Lucine – who was trying to extinguish the fire herself – and covered her with her heavy cloak, smothering the flames. She immediately began infusing her with healing energy.**

**The demons who had swarmed Hellboy now dropped away, distracted and confused by the unknown nature of the entity before them. Red turned toward Lucine, noticing that Hela now gestured at the center of the street, opening a hole in the concrete. **

**Loki laughed, still balancing the flame in his palm, and turned first to Hellboy.**

**"Are these Judeo-Christian asshats bothering you nice people?" he asked him, and then turned toward the demons. "And please. Let that poor little Hebrew angel alone; haven't you tried to burn her down before? Yes? Failed? Oh, the shame of it! Well, let's play. What do you say? Here's some fire you losers have never seen; it's special delivery from Muspelheim and juiced up with some good old-fashioned Jotun dark magic. Wheee!" He blew at his palm and a blast of greenish fire shot from the mischief-god's hand, blasting the demonic horde into the portal that Hela had opened in the street. **

**They were gone within seconds. **

**The portal closed instantly. **

**Red watched with a feeling of disbelief as vehicle tires bumped across the surface of the pavement, now unmarred. **

**He stood, stunned. "What the - ?"**

**"Fear not," Hela said to him quietly. "Do you remember me? I am Hela of Niflheim. We met in Bethmoora. That colossal show-off and blowhard before you is my father Loki. He is a trial. Lucine is one of my friends, and I have – well, I suppose she would have called it 'smitten' - your enemies." She smiled and smoothed Lucine's burnt brow with her right hand. "I am glad to see you again, but I think we need to get the two of you to the nearest hospital. Can you arrange that?"**

**Red looked down and for the first time realized that he was bleeding from at least a dozen gashes. He was glad to find his cell phone still intact and immediately called for an ambulance. **

**His second call was harder to make.**

"**Red? Is everything all right?"**

"**No, it's not. Liz. Listen to me closely.****I need you to act as if everything is fine. Lucine is hurt and if Tom finds out he'll stroke out. Act. Normal. All right?"**

"**Yes," she said. She felt like screaming. **

"**We were attacked on the street by demons. The ambulance is on its way. I'm a little cut up and Lucine is burned."**

"**Oh Jesus."**

"_**Liz."**_** His voice was harsh. "For Tom's sake,**_** stop. **_**Just tell everybody that I tripped over a crack on the sidewalk and broke my nose. Get Tom to Mt. Sinai however you can; tell him you're scared and you need his big strong shoulder to cry on, or some such crap. He'll buy it; he loves that chivalry stuff. I just don't want the guy to die. I'll call the hospital for him now. We'll meet you there. Got it?"**

"**Yes," Liz said clearly. She could do this. "I'll see you soon."**

_**That's my girl, **_**Red thought as he ended the call and knelt down to get a better look at Lucine. She looked bad but he was no doctor. Most of her hair was gone and Hela was gently holding her hands. They looked burned, too. Sighing, Hellboy then looked up into Loki's handsome and sardonic face. **

**"Let me know if you ever want to play for Team Laufeyson," he grinned. He reached out and touched Hellboy's horns. "Although by the looks of these, you already do." Loki then swirled toward Lucine, his green and gold cape snapping in the night breeze. "And thank you, little Hebrew angel, for your friendship with my Hela. Thousands of years have passed and the former citizens of Asgard still shun her."**

**"I would have been dead half a dozen times without her," Lucine whispered, her throat and lungs slightly singed. "I thank you for her. I have been nothing but a burden to her, as I seem to be to everyone in this world. Odd how a Norse goddess can be a guardian angel!"**

**"Oh, Father. You make me sound like a stray dog," Hela commented, laying her right hand on Lucine's throat to stream healing energy there. "And you're no burden to anyone, Lucine. By the way, I have been in touch with your friend Tzadkiel; it appears that the Heavenly Host is hunting her. She is now under my protection and awaits me in my hall. I will send her to you soon; perhaps she can find safety as a resident of the place where you used to live."**

**"Thank the God of Abraham!" Lucine sighed.**

**"We'll be glad to have an angel at the Bureau again," Red replied, "although nobody will ever replace our creepy little Lucine."**

**"If I wasn't toasted like one of Tom's English muffins right now I would punch you in the face, Anung un Rama," creepy little Lucine hissed back.**

**Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of an ambulance siren.**

**XXXXXXX**

**The first thing that Tom Manning's cardiologist ordered was a heavy dose of sedation.**

"**Wait a minute – what the hell is going on?" Tom shouted. "Why do I need to be drugged?"**

**Abe placed a hand on his boss's shoulder. "Tom, there's been an accident."**

**Tom knocked his hand away. "What the hell do you mean, an accident? They were on foot! What the hell is going on?" **

**The doctor got into Tom's face and grabbed his shoulders. "Listen to me, Dr. Manning. Your wife and her friend were attacked on the street. There were some injuries, but they'll both be all right. Do you understand? _They will both be fine._ I want to calm you down so that we don't have another cardiac episode. Now, I'm going to lay you down on this gurney and we are going to attach some leads and run a line and sedate you. Do you understand? Is this all right for me to do?"**

**Tom's lips pressed together in a firm line. "She's alive?"**

"**Yes."**

"**My Lucine is one tough cookie. Do it."**

"**You'll see her soon. Let's go."**

**XXXXXXX**

**Abe had called Johann and soon there was a large contingent of B.P.R.D. agents on hand to slam down the lid of official secrecy before the press got hold of the news. A demon attack on a Manhattan street? The Big Red Devil Hellboy and New York's favorite angel attacked and injured? It would have been a sensational media story.**

**Lucine was treated for second-degree burns. Hela's immediate action had spared her the worst of it but her wealth of long black hair had been mostly burned away. Her face, hands, and chest had been scorched; the cheerful doctor who had attended her told her that her skin would blister and peel but should grow back good as new.**

**"At least you won't be scarred again," Liz soothed, patting her unfortunate friend on the shoulder. Lucine lay curled up against Tom, who lay knocked out in a hospital bed connected by wires and leads to at least five machines monitoring his cardiac activity. Several nurses had tried to remove the angel but she had hissed at them; even without her ominous eyeless face, Lucine could be plenty intimidating. Her wings hung over the side of the narrow bed.**

**"My poor Tom," she whispered, her throat still sore. "It probably would have been better for him if we had not met," she continued, starting to cry. "I have brought one disaster after another upon him. I fear that he will die because of me!"**

**"No, Lucine," Abe soothed. "Before you showed up, he was a pretty unhappy guy with the beginnings of physical problems. He loved his cigars and his porterhouse steaks. With you, at least he has love and happiness in his life, and because he wants to be with you for a long time in the future he's paying attention to his health now. I don't think he considers it a bad bargain."**

**"He's fine, Lucine. Don't worry." Liz turned to Hellboy, who sat in the hospital room's most comfortable chair, his bare chest bandaged. "How are you doing, honey?" **

**"Ah, more stitches for the collection," he replied. "How are the kids?"**

**Liz walked across the room to view the two sleeping twins in their portable playpen. "Sleeping like a couple of angels."**

**Abe blinked hard at this.**

_**That is more true than you ever dreamed, **_**he thought to himself.**

**XXXXXXX**

**A week later, the same group of friends got together for dinner at the Mannings' apartment. **

**Lucine sported a modish new bob; the World Trade Center beauty shop had done its best for her. Japanese food had been brought in as she was not up to cooking. Nobody ate much, however, and the mood of the little group was somber. **

**Abe in particular was distracted, burdened by the knowledge he had gleaned by his intellectual eavesdropping upon Lucine's argument with the angel Haniel.**

_**Should I keep my mouth shut?**_

_**No, that wouldn't be right.**_

_**Who should I tell, then?**_

_**How should I tell it?**_

_**Lucine will kill me!**_

_**Tom will fire me, and then he will kill me!**_

**His friends looked like the walking wounded. Lucine and Red were still bandaged and Tom was groggy with medication. **

**Red's strategy of hospitalizing Tom had paid off as the shock of seeing his injured wife had sent him straight into ventricular defibrillation. He had spent countless nights of their lives together comforting Lucine after her nightmares about the attack in Bethmoora, and seeing her burned once again – and by demons at that – had been too much for him. Mt. Sinai had just discharged him earlier today. **

**Abe looked around. **

_**Has Lucine gone out of her mind, painting her living room walls like a child with finger paint?**_

"**Those are sigils to keep the demons away," the lady of the house whispered, seeing his silent examination of her latest additions. She lay in the crook of Tom's arm on the couch and looked at least half as grim as she had in Bethmoora. **

**Her upcoming photo shoot had been canceled; not even photoshop could have eradicated all the blistering from which she now suffered. A couple of _paparazzi_ photos had made it into the more sensational tabloids; the B.P.R.D. had "leaked" the story that her state was due to a small grease fire in Hellboy's apartment when they were making _chimichangas._ Remarkably, the press had bought it.**

**Abe then looked at Red and Liz. They sat on the other big couch listlessly.**

_**God, they all just look miserable,**_** thought Abe, suddenly realizing that he was miserable as well but that his pain came from within. **

**XXXXXXX**

**It was freezing cold in the Norse version of what the angel Tzadkiel could best characterize as Hell. "To the people of such a cold climate, freezing rather than burning in the afterlife would be more terrible," she commented to Hela as both walked toward Nastrond, the Shore of Corpses. "It makes perfect sense, doesn't it?"**

**"Yes, indeed," Hela replied. "And this location is the worst of the worst. We will not linger here long."**

**The demons who had attacked Hellboy and Lucine stood before them. Hela's gaze was remorseless.**

**"Did you really think that I would allow you to attack my friends and then return to your Hell as heroes?" she spat, and then pointed upward. "Here is your new best friend and companion. His name is Niddhoggr and he will eat you over and over and over again. For all eternity."**

**A massive dragon – his scales spotted with mold and glittering with slimy strands of vegetation – slid slowly down the root of the great tree Yggdrasil to begin his feast.**

**XXXXXXX**

**The two beings began their trip back to Elvidnir. "You have been invited to dinner in New York City, my friend," Hela said to Tzadkiel, who was without her mortal disguise. The daughter of Loki looked up at the smooth expanse of her eyeless forehead, not knowing where else to look. "Tonight. The Mannings' apartment is heavily warded against intrusion. I cannot thank you enough for helping Tom and Lucine out of their last difficulty, and I am so very sorry that you are suffering for it. If you ever need protection against others in your world, you will find it here. Safe passage, my dear."**

**Tzadkiel bowed as Hela placed her hand on one of her great eyed wings. In an instant, the angel disappeared into the thin air of Niflheim with a grateful heart.**

**XXXXXXX**

"**I don't get it," Red finally said, breaking the silence that hung over the apartment like a shroud. "Why did they attack us? I know that demons hate angels, of course, but I thought that Hell wanted me to be its leader or something."**

"**That's sure not the way to do it," Liz added. "It doesn't make sense. And why didn't the angels help again?"**

**Abe sighed deeply. "Look – people. I have something to say. It may mean a lot to you, or it may not mean a thing. I'm not astute enough to tell." He turned to his hostess, his great eyes blinking. His voice was hesitant. "Lucine, I learned Enochian from a book that Dr. Broom had left."**

**The former death angel stiffened, rising to a sitting position. **

"**I was able to understand the conversation you had with Haniel."**

"**Perhaps you had better keep your own counsel, Abraham," she hissed. It was clear to Abe that she knew what was coming.**

"**Well – I would, Lucine, but – I think it explains not only why you two were attacked but also why no angels came to your assistance. If both the devils and the angels are unhappy with you and Red and I know why, I think I have an obligation to tell him what I know."**

**Hellboy sat up straight. "What are you talking about, Abe?"**

**Tom went into full attack mode. "Agent Sapien, don't you even think of upsetting Lucine in her own home after demons have burnt her to a crisp, might I add, **_**for a second time **_**on Hellboy's behalf! Do you really want to be out on the street again? I won't hesitate to -" **

**At this, Lucine raised her blistered hand and gently caressed his cheek. "Hush now, my Tom," she said. "What was that line from that television show about the Romans we watched last night?"**

"**What – 'I Claudius'?" He looked at her quizzically.**

"**Yes, my Tom. **_**'Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out.'**_** I think that was what Claudius said. You already know what Abe is going to say; we have no secrets between us, you and me. If he wants to tell Anung un Rama, I think he should." Lucine drew in a sharp breath. "But you also must know, Abe, that you are tearing open some very old wounds. I do not appreciate the additional pain but I also understand that you love your friend." She lay her head back on Tom's shoulder. **

**Her husband reached over for a throw that was on the back of the couch and tossed it over her for comfort, reaching over to tuck in her feet. "If you must," Tom Manning conceded, but in his sternest tone, "then you must. But since it involves yet more infliction of pain on Lucine, I will - remember it." He touched his index finger to his forehead. **

**His message was unmistakable; even if Lucine would forgive him, he would not.**

**Abe blinked, uncertain as to whether to proceed.**

**"**_**Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out,'**_** " murmured Lucine.**

**Abe sighed, and then began his tale.**

**XXXXXXXX**

"**Um – Red. Lucine is more your mother than you know. She and another death angel were kidnapped by demons some four hundred years ago. Their life forces were stolen from them - drained away - so that your dead mother could give birth to you, a living creature. Otherwise, it would have been impossible."**

"**Jesus," Red murmured. "Oh, man."**

"**The other angel died during the process. Lucine was kept alive so that they could drain her as you grew, both before and after your birth."**

**Abe paused, realizing that Lucine was crying. **

**"You once criticized how awful she looked in Bethmoora. Well, that was why. There was barely anything left by the time the demons got through with her. They kept her in captivity for a year, sucking out her life-force when they needed it and torturing her for sport when they didn't."**

"**Can you imagine her suffering?" Tom added, his relentless gaze now fixing Hellboy. "Everything you are and everything you have, you owe to her. Haven't I said the same to you, again and again?"**

**Lucine sighed and patted his chest. "That's all right, dear Tom. It was a very long time ago." She wiped her eyes with her blistered hands and turned to Hellboy. **

**"There is a reserve in all heavenly beings of what some mortals call grace. My captors were so obsessed with creating a son for their leader that it never occurred to them that tapping into an angel's life force included tapping into her grace as well. Why they were too stupid to figure it out, I have no idea. I can only guess that they had never done such a thing before and were just experimenting. I had such a small amount of it left in the end. After you were born, I insisted upon holding you. When I did, I infused you with nearly all the grace I had left. If I had given it all to you, I would have died along with Ephraim."**

**Liz began to cry.**

"**It wasn't until later that the devils realized their mistake. When they did, they resolved to kill me in a big ceremony because angels are almost never captured by demons and when they are, examples must be made - particularly when they've spoiled the new crown prince of Hell with holiness. Of course, they let it be known on Earth so that my brother and sister angels would find out that I would shortly be executed in Hell. As you can well imagine, no one from Heaven came storming the gates to help me."**

**Lucine's head dropped; Tom hugged her, shooting a dirty look at Abe over her head. After a few moments, she looked up once more. "I had been bound for a long time but I had never stopped trying to escape. I had picked at the bonds that chained me for the earthly equivalent of a year or so, and on that day I finally broke through. I hid it, though."**

**Lucine grew silent, overcome. **

**Abe picked up the thread. "Lucine, you were able to grab hold of a nearby demon of some type and carve the angel banishment sigil into its flesh, weren't you?"**

**She nodded. **

**"Stop making her talk," Tom ordered.**

"**At the last moment – right before she was blasted out of Hell and into Heaven, Red – she grabbed hold of you. She wanted to save you, but the Hand of Doom kept you locked firmly in place. It took years of Lucine's life to finally accomplish what she started on that day."**

**Red's big face was contorted with emotion. After an uncomfortable silence, he spoke.**

**"Aw God. Father hinted to me about this. He'd always tell me that there was as much Heaven as Hell within me. I guess that's what he meant. But how did he know?"**

**Lucine looked up. "I told him."**

"**What?"**

"**Do you actually think that I wouldn't see to your proper upbringing once I had failed you so dreadfully? That's a story for another night, Anung un Rama."**

"**So that's why they hate you up in Heaven," Red sighed. "Because you were in Hell for so long, I mean. Because you and that other poor slob created me. If it hadn't been for you, I would have never existed and nobody would have to concern themselves about whether or not I would eventually destroy the Earth. Which I won't." He shot a glance at Liz. She blew him a kiss.**

"**It's a lot like what happened to German and American prisoners of war after World War Two," Abe responded. "Even though they were just as patriotic when they were released as when they were captured, no one in their own country trusted them after that. They just assumed that the Russians had indoctrinated them, even if nothing of the kind ever occurred."**

"**That was the reason for all the fallen angel remarks in the hospital," Liz added.**

**Red shifted uneasily and looked at Lucine. "And they hate you in Hell because - well, you gave me your angel mojo. And that makes for a piss-poor leader for their demon army." **

**"Right you are," Lucine whispered. "which makes never leaving this apartment again a very attractive option."**

**"Well, that would be of little use," Abe ventured. "You hid for four hundred years and what good did it do you? They found you anyway." He looked at Tom nervously. "Twice."**

**"Thanks for giving Lucine and me a real warm feeling inside," Tom growled. "What a cheerful thought! I feel so much better already! Hell - I feel absolutely amazing! In fact, Sapien, why don't you just - "**

**It was entirely fortuitous that someone knocked at the Mannings' door.**

**"Go get it somebody; I can't move," Lucine moaned.**

**Abe stood. "Well, since I'm the donkey tonight, I will."**

**"Too frapping right you are," Tom retorted. **

**Abe opened the door and saw a lovely blonde woman wearing a black suit and a French twist.**

**"Why, Doctor Schiffman!" he cried. "How wonderful to see you!"**

**In spite of his realization that he was very close to joining the ranks of the unemployed, Abraham Sapien suddenly felt nothing but joy.**


	21. Chapter 21: I Can't Smile Without You

**CHAPTER 21: I CAN'T SMILE WITHOUT YOU**

**Time passed, as it always does. **

**It was four years after the demon incident; no other attacks had taken place after that. That was a mercy, anyhow; perhaps Hell thought better of trying to make a devil king out of someone who still proudly wore the cross of the Christ-followers. **

**Hellboy's lacerations had healed nicely. Lucine's face and hands were left unmarred; her tortures by fire rarely crossed her mind as the time between Bethmoora and now spun out, turning days into weeks and then into years.**

**Tom Manning was semi-retired from the Bureau. It was hard for the old agent to let go of his domain in Trenton but thanks to Lucine's successes, he no longer had to fret about his pension. He allowed himself one cigar a month. He also sneaked an occasional half-gallon of pistachio ice cream when he could get it past Lucine by hiding it behind the frozen Brussels sprouts, which she disliked. His ticker was holding up just fine and he no longer needed to stockpile Rolaids.**

**XXXXXXX**

**The Mannings had bought property on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire several years ago, a lovely place that gave them the fresh air and solitude to enjoy life. Today was the Fourth of July and all the lake communities would have fireworks shows tonight. In the land of "live free or die," you could buy all the booze you wanted at the state liquor stores and shoot off legal fireworks to your heart's content. Tom had the foresight to invite an FBI friend who would do the honors tonight in his capacity as a certified demolitions expert. Everybody else would tear through the vast supply of liquor and the abundance of food. It was all good.**

**S****omebody nearby with an IPod was playing **_**"Life is a Grimm Tale Sometimes"**_** by Tankus The Henge, and Lucine Malak'ha Manning danced her way across ****her huge lakeside yard****, her sleeveless sundress swishing around her ankles, ****arms and ****black wings extended, ****their multiple ****eyes glittering from the water's reflection. ****Lizzie and Trevor ****tore ****past her,**** chasing a duck that had the misfortune to land nearby ****looking**** for bread. ****They shrieked with joy, acting as children usually do when excited by a day of play and food. Their parents frequently let them know when they were being part-devil or part-angel depending on their conduct, without either child realizing how true both statements really were.**

"**Don't go in the water!" the former Elizabeth Sherman cried from a little distance away. "Go find a piece of bread for that poor bird. Wait for me. We'll all go swimming after supper." **

**Liz and Red had finally gotten married in the world's only Catholic ceremony with a _klezmer_ band at the reception, courtesy of the Mannings. Liz was expecting their third child and she had sworn Lucine to secrecy as to its sex. **

"**Your friend Hela blabbed to me about the twins and this time I'd actually like a surprise. Do I have to keep your mouth shut with duct tape, Angel Puss?" is how she had put it to her odd little friend.**

**Liz smiled at the recollection and stretched her sore back, enjoying the smell of cooking hamburgers and hotdogs; the large grills were tended by BPRD agents lucky enough to be chosen to provide security for the event. Some One World Trade Center executives were also in attendance, their moods lightened considerably by the success of Lucine's last advertising campaign:_"We're growing like Chava – join us as part of the One World Trade Center family!"_**

**A small dot appeared to her far left, and Liz turned to watch it approach. **

**Chava Ahuva Manning was Tom and Lucine's daughter, just three years old, for it was she who flew toward Liz. Chava had been a godsend to her parents, making them feel as fortunate as Abraham and Sarah in the Genesis story. The already-famous baby had sprouted wings some two months after her birth and it had bothered her no more than cutting her first tooth would a few months later. Lucine believed deeply that God had granted her this child to thank her for her centuries of devotion to her duties, as distasteful as they had been, and because He felt sorry for her ill treatment in both Heaven and Hell.**

**Tom ran toward the approaching child, acting as silly as men do who never thought they would be lucky enough to become fathers.**

"**Oh, look at the BABY! Where did it COME FROM? I think I'll KEEP IT!" he cried, holding out his arms. **

**With a whirl of small black wings and a squeal of joy, Chava made a perfect landing in her father's arms. He smiled at Liz and carried the little one off to join Lucine, who awaited them both. The angel's hair had turned silver after her daughter's birth and it hung in a thick braid which fell neatly between her two black wings. She worried about neither Heaven nor Hell these days, which had lifted a tremendous burden from her. **

**It had only taken Lucine the Messenger – once one of God's dark destroying angels – over twenty thousand years to realize that love is the only thing that never dies.**

**XXXXXX**

**Abe and Tzadkiel sat at a nearby picnic table; they had hardly been apart since that day in Lucine's apartment. Tzadkiel's act of compassion toward Lucine during the difficulties generated by the botched raid had changed her life profoundly; while she was not exactly a fallen angel, she wasn't exactly welcomed in Heaven either. Like Lucine, she had learned that the companionship and love of a wonderful man – no matter his species – was infinitely preferable to the politics of Heaven. Abe Sapien had been utterly smitten by her beauty, intelligence, and self-sacrifice, and – like his boss – he had been delighted to find in one of God's angels the most captivating creature he had ever encountered.**

**Tzadkiel had spent the last few years working at the B.P.R.D. and perfecting Abe's command of Enochian. For his part, Abe had since written several best-sellers containing fictionalized accounts of the lives of angels and demons; Lucine had bought them a condo with a specially-designed tank as a wedding gift. Suitably, Tzadkiel had learned to swim, which is more difficult to do with wings than one might think. **

**An older couple sat at a nearby picnic table enjoying the breeze coming off the lake. He was tall and rugged, with a graying full beard and long hair. The woman's hair had a deep side part and swooped over half her face, giving her an air of mystery. Of course, it was Hela and Ullr, who had interrupted their survey of a Colombian volcano called Galeras in order to attend. They sipped Absolut vodka and smiled at Lucine as she approached them with Chava wiggling in her arms, frantically seeking to take flight once again.**

"**I am so happy to see you both," the angel sighed. "If it hadn't been for you, dearest Mother Hel, I would have lain in the sand of my temple in Bethmoora, cut and burned to death. And but for you, dear Ullr, New York would have been lost to that terrorist bomb. I can never repay you with anything but my love, which you both have forever!"**

**Ullr grinned. "Love I like, but why don't you also repay me with a cheeseburger? Slop barbecue sauce all over it!"**

**Dropping Chava in Hela's arms with a laugh, Lucine turned and headed toward the grills. The Norse goddess smiled with delight, smoothing the tot's curly black hair and calling the child her own little Valkyrie.**

**XXXXXXX**

**Hellboy changed the selection on his IPod and let the refrain of Barry Manilow's _"Can't __Smile__ Without You"_ suffuse the late afternoon air. He watched Tom Manning loop Lucine around the waist and dance with her at the sound of it, her bare feet still clumsy on the green grass.**

**The song brought on an uncharacteristic yet overwhelming pang of nostalgia in Red's heart. Nostalgia with a touch of apprehension, perhaps; for the moment, at any event, Lucine's old prophecy had eluded him. Nobody could predict the future, of course, but hadn't Hela of Niflheim told him that she didn't put much credence in portents? Hellboy agreed. He had spent the ensuing years in the type of self-reflection that marks the beginning of maturity in any sort of being, and if he could describe how he felt these days, he would say that he was grateful for all of it.**

**Gratitude and maturity aside, however, Hellboy still bore a healthy streak of deviltry and a keen enjoyment of annoying Lucine, although it always resulted in swift retribution. He waited until she walked over to the grill before he let loose.**

"**_Chow's ready!" _he roared at the top of his considerable lungs. **

**Lucine shrieked, darting over to a table to grab a squeeze bottle of French's mustard. She spun around and pegged him neatly right off his chest, sending an arc of yellow across his face. It was an excellent shot and Lucine felt her customary surge of satisfaction. **

"**Hey, Lucine! What gives?" he grinned, feeling like the biggest kid at the cookout, which he no doubt was.**

"**They could hear you all the way down to Alton, Anung un Rama," she hissed. "We do have neighbors."**

**He threw his arm around her. "Together in Hell and maybe in Heaven too, if we're lucky. What's a little mustard between the two of us? In the meantime – whatever you say, Mom."**

**Barry Manilow's love song wove its way though the soft summer air as Hellboy and Lucine the Messenger swayed to the music, her arm hooked through his.**

**THE END**


End file.
